Love Takes You Home
by QueenofallSwans
Summary: High school AU: Emma Swan a 17 year old foster child starts her senior year at Storybrooke High with hopes of having her new teacher give her a chance at being who she is. Struggling with home situations and classwork Emma forms a bound with her new teacher Ms. Mills that cannot be easily broken. or can it? *swanqueen slow burn*
1. Chapter 1

**Thank you all for taking the time to read this fic. It means a lot to me (: I encourage you to Rate and Review as it keeps my motivation flowing. I also love constructive criticism so bring it on (: Also if there is any character you feel must be in this fic please don't hesitate to ask me. I'll most likely include them in here. *OUAT characters only please* I guess that's it, so please enjoy the story. I should be updating every week.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own 'Once Upon a Time' nor am i affiliated with ABC or any other corporation surrounding this show. This is purely fan based and oh dear God don't sue me.**

Chapter 1: New Year, New Teacher

*BEEP* *BEEP* *BEEP*

Emma shot up in bed, slamming her fist down on the alarm clock while spewing out a stream of curses. Through squinted eyes she looked at the time and jumped all the way out of bed. _7:30?!_ _Oh god, I'm so fucking late_! She thought to herself as she scrambled around her room throwing clothes on. She opted for her favorite red leather jacket, a plain white t-shirt and a pair of skin tight blue jeans. Today was 17 year old Emma Swans' first day of senior year and she was late. Again. She was rarely on time throughout her whole high school career. This year though her Principal, Mr. Gold, warned her that if she was late more than 5 days this year she would have to take summer school. Emma Swan did not do summer school. No way in hell. So with this in mind Emma got ready in record time, running out the door to her yellow bug in under 10 minutes.

Pulling up to Storybrooke High, Emma jumped out of the car, slammed the door behind her and ran all the way to her first period class. Having minimum problems finding the math hall and her room, the blonde ran into the classroom, panting, just before the teacher, Ms. Blue, closed the classroom door. "Cutting it close again I see Miss. Swan." Ms. Blue scolded as Emma sat down. Ms. Blue has been Emma's math teacher since freshman year. It was a small school so the math department only had two teachers. Actually pretty much every department only had two teachers. Which sucked for Emma because her teachers already assumed they knew what kind of a student she was and stopped giving her chances. Most of her teachers just dismissed her as 'one of those kids' after freshman year and never believed anything she said and always looked down on her. She hated that. She wasn't the same kid she was in freshman year.

"Miss Swan!" Emma was jolted out of her thoughts by her teacher. "It would be so great if you would join us. I asked you a question." Ms. Blue said in a condescending tone. Emma ducked her head as an apology. "I'm sorry, what was the question?" Sighing Ms. Blue turned back to the board. "Never mind Miss Swan, just go back to dreamland. If you don't want to learn I won't teach you." Emma's mouth fell open in surprise. Teachers can't do that can they? The blonde was about to open her mouth again to yell at her teacher when the bell rang, signaling the end of class. Roughly shoving her supplies into her bag Emma stomped out of the classroom holding back tears.

It's not like she didn't try to pay attention. Honestly she wanted to learn. It was just so hard to concentrate when her mind kept wandering. She learned at a young age to zone out when something was uncomfortable or if she was scared. She wasn't scared of math but it definitely made her uncomfortable. She didn't understand math at all and she hated it. So she just… zoned out. Completely caught in her thoughts Emma turned a corner not noticing the brunette right in front of her. The blonde slammed directly into the brunette spewing curses as they were both knocked to the floor. "What the fuck? Watch were you're…. Emma?!" the brunette said in surprise as her scolding was cut off once recognition set in.

"God I'm so sorry Ruby. I wasn't paying attention to where I was going." Emma said, helping Ruby to her feet. The blonde bent down to collect Ruby's things and handed them to her.

"Hey don't worry about it." Ruby laughed accepting her things from Emma's outstretched hand. "I was looking for you anyways. How was first period?" Ruby asked as the two friends started walking down the hallway.

"Pretty shitty actually." Emma replied with a sigh. "I was almost late which pissed Ms. Blue off. And then I zoned out a little in class and she yelled at me. She said she won't teach me if I don't want to learn. Can you fucking believe that? Can teachers even do that?" Emma finished her rant, getting worked up all over again.

"God that's awful Em. I'm sorry. And no I don't think teachers can do that. Why don't you tell Mr. Gold?" Ruby replied sympathetically. Emma just looked at Ruby like she was insane and the two girls busted out in a fit of laughter. "Yeah I guess you're right. He wouldn't help at all." Ruby replied between giggles.

That's how it was with Ruby and Emma. They could talk without actually saying anything. Emma had never found a better friend than the brunette. They had met in freshman year and instantly clicked. They've been inseparable ever since and Emma couldn't be happier about it.

The five minute warning bell rang in the speakers above the two girls so they both said their goodbyes, promising to meet up during lunch, and went their separate ways. Emma to History and Ruby to Science.

After two more periods went by Emma headed to the cafeteria looking for Ruby. Finding her, the two went to get their food and sat down at 'their' table. They've been sitting at this table their whole time in high school. It's actually where they met. The table was in the far right corner of the cafeteria with a spectacular view of the back courtyard. It also allowed the girls to view the entire cafeteria. Which both girls loved so they could keep tabs on their classmates and gossip.

"So how did the rest of your classes go so far? Any more issues?" Ruby asked the blonde while munching on her French fries. Stealing a fry off Ruby's plate Emma replied between bites,

"They were good. I wasn't late again so that's a plus. I also didn't zone out, even though it was super hard not too with these boring first day introductions."

"God, right?" Ruby laughed. "There's only like, what, a hundred kids here? It's not like we don't know each other already."

"Exactly!" Emma exclaimed. "I swear it's like they forget that every year." The two girls shared a laugh and continued eating in comfortable silence.

The school day was almost at an end and Emma was headed to her last class, Creative Writing. She was extremely excited about this class for two reasons. The first was that she absolutely loved writing. She was actually working on a novel. She loved making up people and their lives, it gave her an escape from her life. The second reason was there was going to be a new teacher this year, which meant a clean slate for Emma. She wouldn't have to be 'one of those kids' in this class. She could just be Emma. That's all she wanted to be.

With high spirits Emma walked into the class room and saw that she was the only one there. _Man I'm actually early?_ Emma thought giddily. _This is so cool I can finally pick any seat!_ And she did. She grabbed the seat closest to the front and to the teacher's desk. She was going to be good in this class. She wanted at least **one** teacher to like her.

Soon the class was filled, and with only a minute left until the bell rang, but there was still no teacher. _God I hope nothing happened._ Emma thought_. I __**need**__ this to be a new teacher. I really hope he or she didn't change their mind about teaching here._ Feeling a panic attack about to start the blonde laid her head on her desk in an effort to calm down.

*click* *click* *click* At the sound of heels the blonde lifted her head up off her desk just in time to see, who Emma assumed, was the teacher. The raven haired woman walked up to the white-board and wrote Ms. Mills in pristine hand-writing. She then set the marker down and turned to address the class. "Hello. My name is Ms. Mills," she punctuated this by pointing to her name on the board, "and I will be your creative writing teacher this year. I understand that you have known your other teachers since freshman year so I can imagine how weird it must be to see a new face. So let me tell you a bit about how I teach so you aren't lost. First off I am strict but fair. If you do not do the work, you will not pass. There will be no exceptions to this rule." There was a collective groan from the class, minus a certain blonde, and Ms. Mills smirked. "Secondly, I will not tolerate lateness. If you show up late to my class you will be immediately directed to Mr. Golds' office." More groans. "And lastly, this is not a 'free' class. You will be expected to pay attention and do your work efficiently, and quietly. However if I assign group work you may talk to each other, and let me make this clear, any talk must be about your work. There will be no idle teenage gossip in my classroom. Does everyone understand?" Ms. Mills finished her speech while surveying the class. A chorus of depressed yeses broke out. "Very good. Now…"

Emma took this moment while her teacher was doing introductions to examine the raven haired woman. She was short, maybe 5'4" or 5'5", although she wore 3 inch black heels to boost her height up around 5'7". She was wearing a grey power suit with a white t-shirt underneath. Her hair was shoulder length, maybe longer. She was highly attractive, of that Emma had no doubts. The blonde just hoped that Ms. Mills wouldn't judge her like the others. _Oh no! What if her other teachers have already told her about me? Oh god, please no. Please please please._

"Emma…Swan?" Ms. Mills' voice jolted Emma out of the beginnings of another panic attack.

"Here." Emma said raising her hand while blushing. After a slight panic she realized Ms. Mills was doing roll call. She was thankful she hadn't missed another question. _Stop zoning out Swan. Pay attention._ She scolded herself before bringing her full attention back to her teacher.

"Could you please tell us all three things about yourself Miss Swan?" Ms. Mills asked looking at the blonde student.

"Um, yeah. My favorite color is red, I love to write and…." Emma stalls not knowing what else to say. _What the hell Swan? Its only __**three things!**__ You don't even know three things about yourself?! _Emma thinks mentally berating herself. Ms. Mills looks at her expectantly. "Oh! And I like to read." Emma finishes. Grateful that she didn't totally freeze up. Nodding her head and smiling Ms. Mills continues on to the next student.

After more introductions and basic information the end of the day bell rings and Emma bolts out of her seat and exits the classroom, thankful for the days freedom.


	2. Chapter 2

"So how was the rest of your day Em?" Ruby asks, sitting cross-legged on Emma's bed. Directly after school the two girls headed to Emma's house. Since they met each other the two girls have been taking turns going to the others house after school to gossip and hang out. Sometimes they talk, or watch movies and even take naps. Today though was strictly about first day gossip.

"It went surprisingly well actually. I didn't get yelled at. Which is awesome. Now if only I can keep it up for the rest of the year." Emma replies, laying down atop Ruby's lap facing the ceiling. The blonde begins to pick at Ruby's frayed jeans, pulling out the lose threads.

"Hey!" Ruby shouts, slapping Emma's hand away. "Stop that! How many times do I have to tell you not to pick at my clothes? Do you not remember the 'sweater incident'?" Ruby finishes eyeing Emma's hand to make sure she doesn't do it again.

"I just don't see how those don't bother you. Little strings hanging off my clothes is super annoying. And you know I didn't mean to do that to your sweater. It wasn't that bad anyways!" Emma huffs, moving her hands back to rest on her stomach.

"Well it doesn't bother me, I like it. And you unraveled my whole sweater Emma! You pulled one thread and fucked up my favorite sweater!" Ruby laughed. The brunette wasn't mad about it anymore but she loved to tease Emma about it. Huffing, Emma rolls her eyes at the giggling brunette.

"I said I was sorry." The blonde mumbles. Ruby lets out a bark of laughter and ruffles Emma's hair.

"Hey! Knock it off Rubes!" Emma squeaks, bringing her hands up to protect her hair. Ruby laughs again and starts ticking Emma. "S..s..stop Ruby!" Emma whines between gasps and giggles. Flipping around Emma pins Ruby to the bed and tickles her right back. The intense tickle session ends with both girls sprawled on the floor giggling and gasping for air.

"Emma!? What the hell is going on up there?!" A male voice says before the voice's owner walks into the room. He stares at the two girls on the floor and grimaces. "What have I told you about being loud? Children are supposed to be seen not heard. Now send your friend home. I'll deal with you once she leaves. Now!" Mark, Emma's current foster father, yells before storming out of her room. Mark and his wife Karen have had Emma for about three years now. Karen was super nice but Mark… well Mark was a drunk and when he was drinking, like right now apparently, he could get very mean. Mean and violent, and Karen was too afraid of him to help Emma. She didn't want him to hit her instead. So she just let the man be.

Ducking her head in embarrassment Emma looks at Ruby through her eyelashes, "I'm sorry Ruby." The blonde sighs. "You know how he is. You should leave before it gets worse."

"Are you going to be okay with him?" Ruby questions concern laced in her voice. The brunette wasn't an idiot. She knew Mark hit Emma, maybe even more, but she didn't know all of it because Emma wouldn't tell her. She tried to help Emma about two years ago when she found the bruises lining the blondes back while they were changing one day. The brunette had told her grandmother and she called Social Services about it, but when they came Emma told them she just fell. She told them he was the perfect father. The blonde had stopped speaking to Ruby for a month after that. The brunette was hurt and didn't know why Emma had lied, or why she was so mad at her. Soon though, Ruby found out Emma was so upset about it because she didn't want to go back into the system. Ruby didn't know what the system was like but she knew it must be bad if Emma wanted to stay here with this asshole instead of seeking help.

"Yeah Rubes, you know I'll be okay." Emma replies, standing up and opening the door for Ruby. "Now hurry before he gets even more upset. Please." Ruby looks back at Emma sympathetically before grabbing her bag and leaving.

The next day at school Emma is standing in front of her locker when Ruby hugs her from behind. Turning around to face the brunette Emma smiles weakly. "You okay Em?" Ruby questions, scanning the blondes exposed skin. She doesn't miss the fact that Emma is wearing a sweater today even though it's way too hot.

"I'm fine Rubes." Emma replies, turning back around to shut her locker door. "I'm going to be late for class Ruby, I should go." The blonde states already walking away from Ruby. Ruby runs up behind the blonde and hugs her once again.

"You'll tell me if you're not, right?" the brunette questions, pulling away and looking into Emma's eyes.

"Yes Ruby. I promise. I really need to go though." Emma replies, giving the brunette a smile. "I'll see you at lunch okay?" She finishes before walking away.

"Okay." Ruby whispers to Emma's retreating form. Sighing she walks in the direction of her first period class, worry etched on her face.

"So we never got to finish our gossip." Ruby says sliding into her seat next to Emma. The brunette sets her tray down and waggles her brows at the blonde.

"Oh yeah." The blonde replies, between bites of her hamburger.

"So besides not getting yelled at did anything else exciting happen? Don't you have that new teacher for creative writing? How is he?" Ruby asks.

"She. And I can't really tell. I've only been to her class once remember?" Emma says, smirking.

"Well duh. But what's she like? Does she seem nice?" Ruby sighs at Emma's antics.

"Well she is kind of strict from what I can tell, but she doesn't seem mean. The other kids don't like her though. I think they thought this would be an easy A class. I'll be surprised if most of them haven't dropped the class to be honest." Emma explains.

"Really? Drop her class? You got that from one day? God she must be awful." Ruby smirked, nudging Emma's shoulder. "You better be the best student ever Em."

"I don't think she is awful. She just doesn't want kids horsing around and honestly, what teacher does? I think since she is new she wants to make it clear she won't tolerate us acting like idiots you know?" Emma replies, defending her teacher.

"Yeah I guess I get that." The brunette answers, finishing her food and throwing her tray away. As soon as she sits back down the bell rings. "Man, I swear they cut lunch short this year." Ruby sighs. The two girls back up their bags and after quick goodbyes they head to their next classes.

Finally sliding into her seat in her creative writing class Emma sighs, glad that school is almost over for the day. The bell rings, signaling the beginning of class, and Emma looks around unsurprised to see that five seats were now unoccupied. _I thought so._ Emma thought to herself. _Lazy kids just wanting easy classes._ She shakes her head and turns her attention to the front of the class where Ms. Mills is beginning the lesson.

"Today I would like each of you to take one of these notebooks, write your name on the cover," Ms. Mills instructs, handing a notebook to each student as she walks around the room. "And every day for the first fifteen minutes of class I will give you a prompt to write about. After the fifteen minutes is up I will collect your notebooks and grade what you have written and return them to you the next day. As long as you follow the prompt you can write about whatever you like. For some prompts it can be true or not. However if I want it to be an actual event I will be sure to tell you in the prompt. It can be however long you want it to be as long as it fully satisfies the prompt. Does everyone understand?" She is now back at the front of the room, scanning the room as all heads begin to nod. "Very good. Now your first prompt I would like to be true. I would like you to write about why you chose to be in this class and what you want to get from it." Groans chorus around at the lame prompt. Emma just ducks her head and begins writing. "You have fifteen minutes. Do not waste it." Ms. Mills finishes, sitting back in her desk and pulling out a book.

_This is so easy._ Emma thinks. _I'm so going to ace this one._

**I've been writing stories since I learned how to write, and thinking them up in my head even before that. Making up people and their lives is so thrilling. I can make them do and be whoever I want them to. There are no restrictions on your stories because they are yours. That is what I love the most about writing. No one can tell me what I'm writing is wrong; its mine. That's why I chose this class, not because I need an easy A, but because I love it so much. I'm hoping to learn better writing styles and to enhance my creativity. I'm ultimately hoping to become an author and I feel this class will help me reach my goal.**

Emma re-reads what she wrote and smiles. She looks at the clock and sees that she only has a minute left so she closes her notebook and looks towards her teacher expectantly. Noticing that most of her students have closed their notebooks Ms. Mills looks at the clock and stands up. "Alright class, your fifteen minutes have past so please pass your notebooks up so I can collect them." She instructs as everyone passes their notebooks up. Once she has all the notebooks Ms. Mills sets them on her desk and readdresses the class. "Alright, now were are going to read a few shorts stories from your textbooks. So if you will, please turn to page 346 and we will popcorn read until we have completed." The teacher finishes and waits for everyone to turn to the correct page.

Emma refrains from rolling her eyes. _God popcorn reading? Really? _She thinks, shaking her head. _I hate this. Only like three kids can ever read correctly and no one ever pays attention to when it's their turn. Why can't we just read alone? _She finishes her thought as a kid on the other side of the room starts to read in a shaky voice. _See?_ She thinks. _I knew it._


	3. Chapter 3

"Alright class, I have graded your prompts and I'm going to hand them back now. Once I have handed them all back I will give you a couple of minutes to look over them before we start the next prompt. Does everyone understand?" Ms. Mills explained as soon as every student was in their seat. Noticing everyone's nod of compliance, Ms. Mills smiled and handed the notebooks back to each student. Emma quickly grabbed hers from her teachers hand and scanned the top of the page. The blondes face broke out into a wide grin once she saw her grade and her teachers comment.

_**Excellent work Ms. Swan. I look forward to reading more of your writing. 100% (A+)**_

_I can't believe it!_ Emma thought to herself. _I finally have a teacher who doesn't hate me!_ Emma's smiled broke out into a beam upon realizing that she can finally be herself in this class. If nothing else she knew she would ace this class. Maybe her foster parents will finally be proud of her as well.__Maybe Mark would stop hitting her.

"I see that most of you have finished looking at your grades so we will now move on to the next prompt. I would like you to write about a time when you felt scared or helpless. You can use as much or as little detail as you wish so long as you fulfill the prompt. And yes, I would like this to be true as well. You have fifteen minutes, starting now." Ms. Mills instructed walking back to her desk.

Emma's face fell and she looked around the room at all the other kids busily writing. The blondes face contorted in fear as she stared at her blank notebook. She didn't want to write about this prompt. Hell, she wouldn't even know where to begin. Her life has always been scary, she's always felt helpless.

Feeling eyes on her, Ms. Mills looked up to see that Emma was staring at her. The teacher was about to tell the blonde to get back to work when she noticed the young girls face. She looked petrified. The brunette tilted her head to the side as if to silently question the blonde, however it seemed that the blonde was looking through her not at her. Face contorted in worry, she was about to get up from her desk and head towards her when Emma's eyes widened. The blonde quickly snapped her head to her paper and began to write. Ms. Mills slowly sat all way back in her seat, concerned eyes still trained on the blonde.

___Man that was close. _Emma thinks. _Pull it together Swan._ _Do you want this teacher to hate you too? Just make something up, she'll never know. _Emma scolded herself as she began to actually write, unware of her teachers concerned gaze still locked on her head. Emma was so wrapped up in her writing that she almost didn't hear Ms. Mills addressing the class again. Snapping her head up to the front the blonde began to listen to her teacher talk.

"Alright, the fifteen minutes are up. If you would please pass your notebooks up I will collect them. While you are waiting for me to finish you can pull out your textbooks and we will continue where we left off yesterday." Ms. Mills finished as she walked around the class to collect the notebooks. Emma begrudgingly pulled her textbook out and turned to the correct page, grumbling about having to popcorn read again.

Twenty minutes into the reading Emma was pulled out of another daydream by someone tapping her shoulder. Turning around to yell at whoever was disturbing her, Emma opened her mouth only to quickly snap it shut upon realizing exactly who was the one tapping her. The blonde looked up into dark brown eyes, blushing slightly as she met her teachers gaze. "Emma, it's your turn to read dear." Ms. Mills gently said, the concern from earlier filling her eyes once again.

Emma ducked her head down mumbling, "I'm sorry." Before she looked at her textbook blankly. She had absolutely no idea where the last student had left off. The blonde zoned out almost immediately after the readings began. Sensing the blondes' discomfort, Ms. Mills leaned over the girls' desk and flipped to the correct page in the textbook. She then moved her finger down the text to point out exactly where they were.

Blushing again, Emma looked up, mumbling a "thank you" and began reading. Ms. Mills stayed by the blondes desk for a few more seconds before wordlessly moving back around the room, mind filled with worry over her young student.

Of course the brunette has heard stories from the other teachers about Emma. Most of them being that the girl was a 'bad kid'. That she didn't care about her work. However it was one frightening story that was told to the brunette that made her want to help Emma. Some of the teachers told her that the young girl tried to commit suicide in her freshman year. The brunette could not fathom why, with that kind of information, the other teachers still spoke poorly about the blonde. She knew from experience that you do not kick someone while they are already down. With this in mind the brunette was determined to help Emma in any way she could.

The bell signaling the end of class rang and the students began to hurriedly pack their supplies before running for the door. Knowing that it would be no use trying to get out first Emma packed her things slowly. Hearing that the classroom was now empty of her noisy classmates, the blonde stood up and made her way to the door. "Oh, Miss. Swan?" Ms. Mills called as Emma was almost out of the room. Slowly the blonde turned around to face her teacher, mind already racing about how she was going to be scolded for not paying attention in class.

Noticing that the blonde was starting to panic, the brunette hurriedly continued, "Emma, I'm not going to yell at you for not paying attention." Emma's shoulders sagged in relief upon hearing this. She did not want to face her foster father if she fucked up again. "I just wanted to see if you were alright. When I gave the prompt earlier you seemed upset and you seemed kind of out of it while reading. Is everything okay Emma?" The brunette finished, searching Emma's eyes. Hurt and sadness flashed in green eyes before the blonde schooled her face and smiled. Although the smile didn't reach her eyes and Ms. Mills was not fooled.

"Yes, I'm okay. I'm just tired is all. I stayed up pretty late last night reading." Emma replied, hoping her teacher would leave it at that.

"Okay, but please, Emma, if you are having any problems you can talk to me about them okay? I'm not like your other teachers, I will not judge you." Ms. Mills stated sincerely, hoping the girl would open up.

Stepping back slightly in shock the blonde gaped at her teacher before quickly closing her mouth. She had never had a teacher genuinely care about her or her feelings before. Especially not if she wasn't paying attention in class. They never stopped to think if the reason the blonde wasn't paying attention was because she was upset. Only assuming that Emma was doing it on purpose to piss them off. "T…Thank you." Emma stammered, averting her gaze from her teachers' eyes. "I will. I really need to be going though." The blonde said hastily, trying to keep the unshed tears behind her eyes. "I have to catch my ride." Finishing, Emma ducked her head and hurried out of the classroom, finally letting her tears fall.

"Hey Em! You ready to…" Ruby cut her sentence short upon seeing her friends tear stained face. The brunette ran up to Emma and threw her arms around the blonde, embracing her in a hug. Immediately Emma began to sob into Ruby's shirt, roughly gripping the brunettes back as if she were to let go she would fall to the floor. Ruby stroked Emma's hair murmuring that it was okay into her ear. Once the blonde began to calm down Ruby pulled her back to look into teary green eyes. "Emma, what happened?"

Gasping for breath the blonde stuttered out, "M… Ms. Mills…A… And… Cares…N… No one… else… Does." the blonde ended in a fit of hiccups. Ruby's face contorted in confusion and Emma couldn't help but laugh. "I didn't make any sense just then did I?" The blonde questioned, now giggling.

Shaking her head ruby smirked, "Uhmm, no not really. Care to try that again?"

Emma took in a deep breath and began again. "Ms. Mills saw that I was u…upset in class today and she kept me back to talk to me. I thought it was b…because she was going to yell at me for zoning out, but actually she told me that she cares." The blonde finished, ending her sentence with a whisper. Ruby still looked slightly confused so Emma continued. "She said that if I'm upset I can talk to her. She said she wasn't like the other teachers, she won't judge me. Do you know how much that means to me Rubes?" Emma ended, gasping to catch her breath once more.

"Wow. Em! I'm so happy for you. So are you going to talk to her? It might make you feel better. I mean, I know you talk to me but you don't tell me everything. And that's okay!" Ruby hurries on, not trying to upset the blonde further. "I know you don't feel comfortable talking about a lot of it but maybe if you open up to her she can help you." The words _like I couldn't_ hung in the air between them, both girls knowing they were there.

Emma sighed and looked down at her hands before meeting Ruby's eyes once more. "I don't know Rubes. She's still a teacher. Hell, like you just said, I don't even feel comfortable talking to you about these things. Why would I feel comfortable talking to her about them?"

"I don't know Em. Just, just think about it okay. I'm worried about you too. And if I can't help you I really hope you can find someone who can." Ruby replies sincerely, locking gazes with the blonde.

"Me too Rubes. Me too." Emma whispers, staring down at her hands again. She balls her hands into fists and holds back the flood of tears once more.


	4. Chapter 4

***SLAM***

Emma sits up in bed blinking her eyes to adjust to the blackness encompassing her. She looks around to locate the sound that so rudely disturbed her sleep. Upon finding the source her eyes pop open and she tries to bury farther into her comforter. Mark is standing just inside her room with her door closed firmly behind him. Emma realizes that he must have slammed the door and she takes in his appearance, immediately concluding that he's drunk. She shifts her eyes to the side and glances at her clock. 2:17am shines back at her and she redirects her eyes to Mark, waiting to see what he does. Emma debates on whether or not she could run out of the room. _Maybe he won't catch me. Maybe he's too drunk to try._

Before she can make a move though he's at the head of her bed and her eyes widen. He's faster than she thought he would be. She can't run now so she contemplates screaming. Marks hand shoots out and is clasped over her mouth before she even finishes the thought. She gags at the rank smell of cigarette smoke and alcohol and she thinks she can smell puke as well. She starts shaking her head and screaming but her screams are muffled and Mark laughs. He places his other hand on Emma's shoulder, forcing her down farther into the bed. Emma twists her body to free herself from his grip and he punches her in the face. Her vision starts to blur and her head feels like it's on fire. The darkness sets in and the last thing she hears is his laughter.

Emma wakes up with a splitting headache and the sound of her way too loud alarm. She groans slapping at it to turn it off. She rolls into a sitting position and immediately regrets doing so. The blonde places her head in her hands and she can feel hot tears streaming down her face. Deciding that she doesn't want to be in this house any longer, in case Mark came back for more, Emma gets up and slowly makes her way to the bathroom. Now that she's moving though she can tell that something isn't right. Her lower half feels weird. There's a lot of pain but it also feels numb. Gritting her teeth the blonde quickly enters the bathroom and shuts the door. She can't help but look at her face in the small, dirty mirror hanging above the sink. Gasping she moves her hand to her right eye, gently pressing the purple skin. It's swollen badly and there will be no hiding that bruise, no matter how much makeup she wears.

Mark is usually careful about where he hits the blonde. He usually makes it easy to cover up, so this is new. And speaking of new, Emma's attention is redirected to the pain between her legs. The blondes face contorts in confusion wondering what could be causing this feeling. She decides to go to the bathroom to see if she can relieve any of the pressure. Once done Emma pulls her pajamas back on and goes to flush the toilet. Before she flushes however she glances into the bowl and gasps, clasping her hand over her mouth. There's blood. Bright red blood in the bowl. Her blood. She just ended her period almost two weeks ago… Suddenly the blonde understands and a scream is ripped from her throat. She collapses to the floor and sobs. With hot tears and mucus streaming wildly down her face Emma begins ponding her fists on the floor. She pounds and sobs until her throat is raw and her hands are bleeding. Mark was a terrible and violent man but he had never raped Emma before. Emma took comfort in knowing that that was something she didn't need to worry about. She was so wrong. So so wrong.

Emma pulls her bug up to the school parking lot at 10:15am. She's already missed her first period completely and it was now more than halfway through her second. _Let Gold yell at me today. I will kill him. _She thinks even though she races into the school building. She stops at the girls' restroom deciding to wait out the last ten minutes in there rather than wandering the halls. It's easier to hide in a bathroom anyways. She stops in front of the mirror and looks at her face again. She had applied a liberal amount of makeup to cover the bruise once she had calmed down enough to properly apply it. It didn't make much of a difference though, it was super obvious that she had a black eye. Honestly she wouldn't have even come to school today but she would much rather be here than at home with Mark. Sighing she inspects her fists once more, moving her fingers along the split skin and dried blood. She cleaned the cuts as much as she could but they had continued to bleed on the ride to school. The blonde washed her hands once more and as she was drying them off the bell signaling the end of second period rang. She grabs her backpack off the floor and exits the bathroom, blending into the flow of students in the hallway.

"Ms. Swan! Emma!" Emma jerks her head off her desk and blinks away the crust in her eyes. She looks up to see her History teacher, Mr. Booth, glaring at her. "It's nice to see you finally joining us Ms. Swan. It would be wise of you to not sleep in my classroom." He stares at her face, noticing her black eye. "Maybe you should spend your nights actually sleeping instead of getting into fights then you might be able to stay awake for my lesson." He scowls down at her.

Emma immediately stands up, screams, "Fuck you!" and pushes Mr. Booth backwards hard enough to send him sailing back a few feet. The blonde grabs her belongings and flies out of the room, repeatedly cursing on her way out. She hears an angry "Ms. Swan!" as she turns down the hallway. Seething with rage she kicks a few of the lockers that line the hallway. Mrs. White, one of the English teachers, pokes her head out of her classroom. Upon seeing the blonde she immediately rushes over, yelling at her to stop. Emma flicks her off and runs down the hallway.

The blonde runs straight into Mr. Gold, not seeing him in her frenzy. "Whoa there young lady. Just what do you think you're doing?" He questions, staring down at the blonde student.

"Leaving this fucking school that's what I'm doing!" Emma screams in his face, trying to push past the man.

"Not on my watch you're not. You're coming to my office with me. Now!" He pulls at Emma's arm and begins to drag her in the direction of his office. Before he takes even two steps however, he hears two sets of feet running up behind them. Turning both himself and Emma around with him Mr. Gold faces the owners of the running feet. Emma groans when she realizes that the feet belong to Mr. Booth and Mrs. White. The two teachers begin explaining Emma's disturbance, hoping to get the blonde in enough trouble so that she would be expelled. She is a blemish on this schools reputation and she needs to leave before she corrupts the other children. Mr. Gold thanks them and then continues on to his office, Emma in tow.

"Jeez Em. I heard what you did today. What the hell?" Ruby questions her friend as soon as she sits down at their table for lunch. Emma, who was staring at the floor, looks up at hearing Ruby's voice. The brunette gasps, "Oh my god what happened to your face?" she practically screams.

"Oh gee thanks Rubes." Emma replies, scowling at the brunette.

"I'm sorry it's just…well ow I guess." Blushing at her crassness Ruby continues, "But seriously, what happened? Are you okay?" the brunette lowers her voice, "Did Mark do this?"

"I'm okay Rubes. And I don't want to talk about it okay?" Ducking her head Emma begins to play with her food, completely avoiding eye contact.

"Emma…" Ruby starts but stops when Emma eyes her warningly. The brunette sighs. "Okay, I get it. But I am here for you Em. You need to know that."

"I know that Ruby. I do."

"Okay well can you at least tell me what happened in school this morning? Why did you freak out?" The brunette glares at her friend making sure she answers this question.

"Mr. Booth just made a stupid comment and I got upset. Then Mrs. White decided to get involved and I got more upset. They told Mr. Gold that I was cussing at them and now I have detention for a fucking month. Happy?" Snarling, Emma picks up her tray of uneaten food and throws it away. Ruby gapes as Emma, sans food try, leaves the lunchroom, obviously furious. Suddenly losing her appetite, the brunette shakes her head and throws her barely touched food away as well.

Emma walks into her last period still extremely bitter about the day's events and sits in her seat. Ms. Mills is standing at the whiteboard writing something with her perfect handwriting so Emma places her head on her desk, trying to alleviate the headache that she's had since this morning. The raven haired teacher begins to talk, signaling the start of class, so Emma begrudgingly picks her head up off the desk. She won't risk falling asleep in this class. Not only to keep from getting into more trouble but Ms. Mills doesn't hate her yet and she wants to keep it that way.

"Alright class your prompt today is going to be a free prompt. This means you can write about whatever you like. It can be true or fake, whatever you desire. Your fifteen minutes start now."

Emma opens her notebook and chews on her pencil, struggling to form an idea. Finding one she begins to write.

**Elizabeth was a very special girl. She had long blonde hair that flowed in waves down her back. Elizabeth had a gift. A special power that only she knew of. Elizabeth could fly, could soar like an eagle. This gift was a lifesaver for young Elizabeth, for the blonde had many problems. She had many people who wanted to hurt her, to take the joy from her eyes. Whenever such a problem arose Elizabeth would take to the sky and fly as far away as she could. She would beat her wings until she became so tired she had to stop. She was thankful every day for those wings, for if not for them she would surely die.**

Emma set her pencil down and closed her notebook. She looked up just in time to see Ms. Mills's worried face trained on hers. Specifically where she knew the bruise to be. Immediately the blonde put her head down blushing at the look of concern on her teachers face. This is the third time now that she has seen that look. Still looking down Emma passed her notebook up and pulled out her textbook.

The rest of the class was a blur to Emma. Between trying to keep her head down and concentrating on reading when it was her turn, the blonde had barely enough time to retain any of the information nor the speed at which the class was passing. So when the bell rang, jarring her out of her daze, Emma jumped. She immediately looked up to see if anyone had seen and found Ms. Mills staring right at her, face once again twisted in concern.


	5. Chapter 5

Regina Mills had only been a teacher for a year now so she was still getting the hang of dealing with students as just that, students. She decided early on to play it strict so as not to cause confusion with the line between student and teacher. However the raven haired woman was completely thrown by a particular blonde student. She couldn't help to feel concern toward the younger woman, especially when it was so clear that no one else cared enough. She knew exactly how it felt to have her feelings ignored and treated like a horrible failure when she showed her feelings at all. So when Emma Swan sulked into class today Ms. Mills was highly concerned. This concern was made worse when she noticed that the blonde was more out of it today than she was the last time she had been to her class. The blonde had only been in her class for a total of four days and already Regina could see that her mental state was rapidly declining.

When Regina gave the prompt for the days writing assignment she carefully studied the blondes face, trying to discern if this prompt upset her as well. However it seemed that the blonde had no issue with a free prompt and Regina watched curiously as the blonde began writing furiously in her notebook. It seemed that she had come up with an idea fairly quickly and a slight smile touched the edges of Regina's lips. She was glad that something could take the blondes mind off whatever was bothering her so much.

Regina watched as Emma set her pencil down, looking satisfied, and pulled out her textbook. The blonde looked up at her suddenly and Regina caught only a glimpse of her face before Emma immediately put her head down again. The brunette pulled her eyes away from the blonde to realize that all of her students had their pencils down and were looking up expectantly, textbooks already out on their desks. She ducked her head to hide the blush she felt creeping up at not paying attention to her own class. Quickly schooling her features Regina looked back at her class and instructed them to continue the popcorn read from where they left off the previous day.

Honestly she hated this popcorn reading thing considering no one paid attention to their turn and you could barely hear the person reading most of the time. The brunette only planned on doing it the first week to see how it worked with this particular class. Even though it was the same as every class Regina decided she might continue with it anyways. This gave her the chance to study the blonde girl who, since yesterday, had caused worry in the brunette. So she kept the students reading together and watched Emma.

When they had read yesterday the blonde was totally out of it. Regina could tell that her mind was definitely not in the room with her body. She had helped the blonde then, feeling only the slightest prickle of concern. That worry grew though when she stopped Emma on the way out of class that day. The brunette could tell that the young woman was petrified of being in trouble even if she tried to hide her feelings. Regina, being very skilled at masking her own feelings, could easily pinpoint the blondes' hidden emotions. When she had asked the blonde if she was okay there was no mistaking the look of fear that crossed the young girls' eyes moments before her mask went up again. Regina was no fool, she knew something was bothering the girl terribly, however she didn't question her further. Just letting her know that she cared.

So now the students were reading and Regina had absolutely no idea where they were. Her focus was too taken up by the blonde who, again, seemed to be somewhere else completely. She noticed that this time the blonde pulled herself from whatever she was thinking about when it was her turn to read, obviously afraid to get reprimanded for not paying attention for two days in a row. This made Regina smirk. It also upset the brunette though. Considering how all of Emma's other teachers had warned Regina about how much the young girl didn't care about doing her work. They had said a plethora of awful things about the blonde. The way they had talked about her made the woman, at first, believe that the blonde would blatantly disregard rules and disturb the class. Regina had prepared herself for that kind of attitude. She was going to make it perfectly clear to the blonde that there would be no funny business in her class, that she would tolerate none of it. However this, this was not what she imagined a 'bad kid' to be like. She began to get furious at the other teachers for so obviously not understanding or even trying to take the time to understand this girl. She was especially upset about how they had portrayed the blonde to Regina. Making her out to be some kind of terrible monster. They made the brunette believe that she was nothing but trouble. She wasn't trouble. She was troubled. There could not have been a bigger difference between those two words and that seriously pissed the brunette off.

Regina was still staring intently at the girl, fuming, when the bell suddenly blasted through the overhead speakers. She watched as Emma jumped, startled. The blonde looked up seemingly embarrassed and locked eyes with the brunette. Regina watched as Emma's eyes grew wide and realized she must have still looked pissed as hell. Not wanting to terrify the girl further Regina softened her features and smiled. Since Emma had yet to duck her head down again Regina had a chance to study her face more intently. She first scanned her eyes trying to find an emotion beneath the carefully constructed mask and since she was at a slight distance from the girl she couldn't find any. Her eyes traveled down her students face and landed right under her right eye. Regina tried to contain her gasp upon seeing the swollen purpleness of the girls' cheek and eye but she failed miserably. The brunette clasped her hand over her mouth, cheeks flushing a bright red, and quickly scanned the room to see if anyone had heard.

Luckily most of the other students had cleared the room by then and the only ones left were in the back of the room so they didn't hear her audible slip up. However Emma's desk was the closest to Regina's desk so the brunette knew she had to of heard. Even if she didn't know for a fact that the blonde had heard the look on Emma's face left no room for doubts. Regina stared on, horrified at herself, as Emma stood up quickly, grabbing her supplies and stuffing them in her bag as fast as she could.

Regina was suddenly stuck with a decision to make. She could let the girl go on her way and leave it at that, or she could stop the blonde and talk to her. On the one hand the young girl looked absolutely terrified and embarrassed and Regina was sure she wanted nothing more than to escape the room before it got worse. On the other hand though the brunette had told Emma that she was concerned and that she was here to talk to without judgement. She didn't want to seem false in her previous statements. Her eyes were now trained on the blonde's desk, not noticing that during her inner turmoil Emma had moved away from it. The brunette quickly spun around and scanned the room horrified that the blonde had already left. She was still there though. A few steps from the door and Regina sighed in relief. Quickly making up her mind, the brunette called out to Emma.

"Emma, wait!"


	6. Chapter 6

"Emma, wait!" Emma turns around to face the raven haired woman. She had almost made it out of the door and it was still so close. All she needed to do was take three more steps and she would be out of the classroom and on her way home. She turned, however, mostly because of the deep concern she heard in Ms. Mills voice. As she peered at her teacher behind a curtain of blonde hair Emma saw that the concern from her voice mirrored on the brunettes face. Sighing, Emma put her hands on her hips and looked at her teacher expectantly.

Ms. Mills brought her hand up, stopping just short of reaching the blondes bruised face and let her hand fall back to her side, shaking her head to clear it. "I'm sorry for gasping earlier Ms. Swan. I just wasn't expecting to see that bruise on your face. I do apologize if I embarrassed you dear. That wasn't my intention." She took a step back, waiting for Emma's response.

"It…it's okay." Emma mumbles, dropping her head and staring at the ground. "I was just startled is all." Ms. Mills reaches out, putting her index finger under the blondes chin and lifts her head up to face her once again.

"May I ask how you got that bruise?" The brunette questions, searching Emma's eyes as she does so. Emma steps back slightly so the older woman's hand falls back to her side. Breaking eye contact with Ms. Mills and looking over her shoulder, the blonde replies,

"I…I got in a fight." She looks back at her teacher and smiles weakly. "You should see the other guy." Faking a laugh the blonde ducks her head once more. Ms. Mills was just about to question the blonde further when Emma suddenly turns and walks out the door, leaving behind a very confused and very concerned brunette.

In the hallway Emma tries to keep her unshed tears where they are. She runs towards the bathroom, sobbing lightly. So consumed with trying to hide her tears the blonde doesn't notice the tall figure staring wide eyed at her until it's too late. Emma smashes into Ruby, which sends her reeling backwards and the blonde lands on the floor.

"Emma!" Ruby practically screams. The brunette leans down and helps Emma off the floor. Once the blonde is upright Ruby looks at her face. "Hey, Em are you crying? What happened?"

"Nothing Ruby. I'm fine. Just leave me alone okay?" Emma replies in a steely tone. The blonde begins to move past Ruby in hopes of getting to the bathroom but the brunette grabs her arm and pulls her back.

"You have to stop doing this Emma!" Ruby yells, exasperated with the back and forth emotions between them. "I'm trying to help you here! Stop pushing me away. Please." The brunette trails off, whispering the final sentence. Emma drops her head, letting the tears fall freely now.

"I'm sorry Rubes. I just… I can't talk about it right now okay? And I'm sorry for going off on you I just can't… I can't do this right now. I have to go." And with that the blonde turns and runs down the hallway, leaving a concerned brunette behind for the second time that day.

Finally in the bathroom, Emma washes her face then stares at her reflection in the mirror. _I have to get ahold of_ _myself_ the blonde thinks. She moves her hand up to her bruise and closes her eyes, squeezing more tears through her lashes_. Pull yourself together. You've already freaked out your favorite teacher and now you're freaking out your best friend!_ She hits her forehead against the mirror and lets the cool surface calm her frazzled nerves.

Infinitely calmer, the blonde grabs her backpack and heads out to the parking lot. Emma stares at her yellow bug trying to decide if she should go home or not. She pulls out her cellphone and checks the time. _5:04 man how long was I in the bathroom? _Seeing that she wasted the hour she would have had at home alone, considering Mark gets home at five, the blonde decides to drive around until he goes to sleep. He usually went to sleep around 9 o'clock which meant the blonde had four hours to kill.

The blonde gets into her bug, deciding to go get some food, and pulls out of the parking lot. Before she can make it to the street however the blonde slams on her brakes and the blood drains from her face_. It's Friday. Mark doesn't have to work tomorrow. He'll be up all night. Drinking_. The blonde panics. _It's not like that stopped him last night though._ She grumbles to herself. _Maybe he's too tired from yesterday to do anything _Emma hopes. She realizes now though that she might just have to stay out all night. Which doesn't bother her considering she's had to do that many times before, she's just afraid of the consequences if Mark were to find out she never came home_. Hopefully he drinks too much and passes out. _She puts her car back in drive and slowly heads to Granny's Diner to get some food.

As Emma walks into the diner she sends her thanks to whomever is listening that Ruby doesn't work on Fridays so she won't have to deal with her just yet. She still needs time to sort out her own emotions before she brings anyone else in on the horror story that is her life.

The blonde picks a seat at the far back of the diner and well out of eyesight for most of the patrons. It's dinner hour so there are a lot of other people here and Emma is glad that she got, what she considers to be, the best seat in the house. One of the waitresses, a blonde girl named Ashley, comes over to take Emma's order and she orders a grilled cheese sandwich and a root beer. After Ashley leaves Emma decides to look around the diner to see who all is here.

It's a small town that she lives in so she pretty much knows everyone and pretty much everyone knows her. She spots the sheriff a few tables away, eating donuts no less. This makes the blonde chuckle because their sheriff is definitely a stereotype. Looking past Sheriff Graham Emma spies David Nolan, the town veterinarian, unsubtly flirting with Ms. Snow. She laughs at this too considering David is married and he has no idea everyone knows their secret.

Watching the town people and their interactions always makes Emma feel better. She finds it fun to guess what they are saying to each other or what they are doing. So when Emma's food is finally brought to her table her spirits have risen dramatically. She begins to devour her sandwich, not realizing how hungry she was, when she hears a very distinct *click* *click* *click*

_Oh no. _Emma groans, dropping her half eaten sandwich back on the table. The blonde peers over her table and confirms what she already knew. Ms. Mills, the teacher who just witnessed her breakdown, has just entered the diner. Quickly Emma scans the tables and, horror stuck, realizes the only empty seating area is the booth directly in front of hers. The blonde ducks down quickly as the brunette takes her seat, thankfully facing away from her. Emma watches as Ms. Mills orders and debates on how to leave without being spotted.

The blonde knows that if Ms. Mills sees her she will try to finish their conversation from earlier and there was no way Emma wanted to do that. She couldn't even tell her best friend what was happening so why on earth would she tell her teacher who she just met a week ago? _She said she cared._ Emma thinks before berating herself. _She's lying._ _No one cares about you. Especially not this new teacher who knows absolutely nothing about you. _

Mind made up the blonde begins to plot her exit strategy. It's obvious she won't be able to just walk out the front door considering Ms. Mills would have to be blind not to see her. Emma looks at the side door but scratches that off the list as well because the side door is closer to the brunettes table than the front door is. The blonde begins to hate her 'favorite spot' all of a sudden, kicking herself for trapping herself in like a caged animal. With no way out the blonde decides that she will just have to wait for the brunette to leave.

Resolved to her plan Emma picks her sandwich back up and continues eating it, making sure to keep her head down in case the brunette turned around. She was so engrossed in eating and not looking up that when someone tapped her on the shoulder she jumped several inches, smacking her knee on the underside of the table. "Ow, Fuck." Emma hissed, rubbing her knee. The blonde looked up to see who had tapped her and came face to face with none other than Ms. Mills.

"Oh, gosh, Emma I'm sorry. I didn't mean to startle you." The brunette said, eyeing Emma's knee regretfully.

"With the amount of times you claim that you 'don't mean' to startle me I'm beginning to think that's not true." The blonde replies grimacing at the lingering pain in her knee. Seeing that the brunette is about to apologize again Emma cuts her off, "Hey, no it's okay I was only kidding. I know you don't do it on purpose." The brunette smiles and gestures towards the empty half of the booth.

"Is this seat taken?"


	7. Chapter 7

"Is this seat taken" Regina asks gesturing towards the empty seat at the blondes table. She watches as Emma's face contorts, sure that the girl is going to tell her to leave. The blonde smiles weakly however and mumbles a soft, "no." Smiling Regina sits down in the empty seat and sets her coffee on the table. After a minute of awkwardness the brunette decides to break the silence.

"So, if I may ask, why did you leave so fast? I'm just trying to make sure you're okay Emma." Regina finishes and reaches across the table to place her hand atop the blondes. Unsurprisingly Emma pulls her hand away like she had been burned. The brunette frowns slightly and retracts her hand. She stares into the blonde's eyes watching the flashes of emotions play out. Regina can tell something is seriously upsetting the blonde but she can also tell that Emma doesn't want to talk about it. "I'm sorry, I know I shouldn't pry, and we've only known each other for a week but I'm worried about you."

"Why though?" Emma says exasperated. "Why do you care? No one else does. Can't you just leave me alone?"

"I care, Emma, because I've heard some things about you. Things that happened." Regina begins, only to be quickly cut off by a suddenly upset blonde.

"I knew it! I knew they would talk about me! Why can't everyone just mind their own business! This has nothing to do with them, why can't everyone just leave me alone!" Emma yells as she begins to stand up from the table. Regina quickly grabs the blondes hand and gently turns the seething girl back to face her.

"Emma I am not judging you okay? Please just calm down. You didn't let me finish. Please just sit back down and let me explain okay?" Regina pleads while staring into Emma's eyes trying to convey that she truly is just here to help. Emma grunts and retakes her seat, crossing her arms over her chest.

"You've got five minutes lady. Then I'm leaving" The blonde retorts, making direct eye contact with her teacher. Not used to being talked to like that by a student Regina is about to reprimand the blonde but decides better of it. _There's no way she will listen to you if you yell at her. Just let that one slide._

"Thank you." The brunette nods at the blonde, "as I was saying, I heard about what happened freshman year and," holding her hand up to stop the blonde from interrupting she continues, "and I think it's awful how the other teachers are treating you. Especially with what they know. I can see that none of them are giving you a chance to prove yourself and that's just awful Emma. I've said this before but let me make myself clear so you have no doubts, I am not here to judge you dear. I am only trying to help. You are absolutely no trouble in my class and quite honestly I can't seem to fathom why the other teachers have labeled you a problem child. I do not see that in you. What I see is a scared young girl who doesn't know what to do with her problems. That's what I'm here for dear. If you can't talk to anyone else, please, consider talking to me. Maybe I could help." Regina finishes her speech. She notices that the blonde is starting to tear up and she wants nothing more than to put her hand atop Emma's again but she knows the girl will just pull away so she refrains.

Choking back a sob the blonde replies in a shaky voice, "T...Thank you. I don't…" Emma sighs frustrated at how unsteady her voice is but continues nonetheless. "I don't trust very easily okay? I've been hurt a lot and it's super hard for me to trust people's intentions now. I'm sorry I got upset. I get that you are trying to help me but honestly I don't know how you would even help. I mean I can whine to you about my problems but that won't solve anything. I haven't even processed everything myself so I don't think I could talk about it to anyone. Hell, I wouldn't even talk to my best friend about it! I don't tell her anything that's going on. Why should I tell you? No offense but you're a teacher. How will I know you won't just go and tell everyone like the others do?" The blonde angrily wipes away the traitorous tears that have fallen from her eyes and looks up at the brunette, waiting for her response.

Regina takes a deep breathe before she replies, knowing she can't give up now. "I understand that you don't trust people Emma. I truly get that okay? I've struggled with trust issues all my life so I will not pry any information out of you. I'm just here if you want to talk okay? And maybe telling me your problems won't actually fix anything but it might help you to move past it. Talking to someone really does help, especially if that person will not judge you. I also promise I will not repeat anything you tell me to anyone. Unless you plan on hurting yourself dear. That I would have to report okay? Anything else though my lips are sealed." The brunette brings her hand to her lips and pretends to zip them shut in an effort to drive her point home. This makes the blonde chuckle and Regina smiles to herself, proud that she could make the young girl laugh.

"Okay… I'll keep that in mind I guess. I can't promise that I won't get upset if I talk to you. This stuff is personal and sensitive and I get angry just thinking about it. So, I guess, sorry in advance if I end up yelling at you." Emma ducks her head at that last sentence, embarrassed.

"That won't be a problem dear. I understand the stress and fear of talking about ones feelings and I definitely understand the anger." Regina smiles at Emma, renewed hope blooming in her chest. _I can really help this girl. She reminds me so much of myself. If only I had someone there to help me… I will not rest until Emma is happy. _The brunette thinks to herself as the smile on her face grows slightly.

They sit in awkward silence once again. Regina sipping her long cold coffee and Emma staring at the table.

"I" Emma begins.

"You don't," Regina begins as well. Blushing the brunette gestures to the blonde, indicating that she should talk first. Blushing as well Emma restarts her sentence.

"I just feel so hopeless you know?" she says this so softly that Regina has to lean in closer to catch all of her words. "Some bad shit… I mean stuff," Emma looks up and blushes as an apology for cursing, "Some bad stuff has been happening lately. I mean, bad stuff happens to me on a daily basis but this….this is worse." The blonde stops talking as a new wave of tears flood down her face. She wipes the tears away and lays her head on the table, sobbing lightly.

Horrified, Regina gets up from her seat and moves in next to the blonde. She wraps her arms around the girls waist and pulls her into a hug, running her fingers through blonde hair and whispering "It's okays" and "I'm heres" into the blondes ear. The brunette feels her heart breaking as Emma holds on like if Regina were to let go she would drown. Tears begin to flow from Regina's eyes as well now. _How could anyone do something to upset this girl? This sweet girl who has done nothing to deserve this. When I find out who did this I'll…._ Regina stops her thought, scolding herself. Getting involved like that will help no one.

After several minutes of holding each other and crying, Emma finally untangles herself from Regina and wipes at her eyes already feeling her skin becoming puffy and sensitive from all the crying. The blonde looks up at the brunettes face and notices her tears as well. Regina watches, motionless, as Emma brings her hand up and wipes the tears from Regina's face. The blonde pulls her hand away and blushes. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you cry too…"

"That's quite alright dear. It's not your fault. I just see how much you are hurting and that hurts me too." Regina replies wiping the tears that Emma missed away from her face.

"I still don't understand why you care so much Ms. Mills. Why care enough to cry over me? I don't understand…" Emma questions, searching the brunettes face for any sign of a lie. Regina sighs and takes the blondes hand in her own, knowing she won't pull away this time.

"I care because I've been through this. Maybe not exactly what you are going through now, but I've been hurt quite a lot and quite badly in my life. I care so much because I know how you feel and I just want to help. No one was there for me when I was going through this and that was horrible. I am not going to sit back and watch the same happen to you dear." She ends her rant by squeezing the blondes hand lightly before gently placing it back on the table.

Emma gapes at her but quickly closes her mouth and fiercely hugs the brunette once again. She whispers, "Thank you." into Regina's ear before pulling away.

Regina touches Emma's shoulder, whispering back, "You're welcome." before letting her hand drop back down.


	8. Chapter 8

Regina awakes suddenly, sweating profusely and tangled in a mass of silk sheets. Wiping a hand across her face, the brunette turns and stares at the clock on her nightstand. She has to blink a few times to remove the lingering sleep from her vision before she can see that it reads 12:34am. Regina sighs and tries to nestle back into her covers, willing sleep to reclaim her once again. After about five minutes she sits up, frustrated. She can see now that sleep will not return. She thinks about the dream, nightmare really, that had awoken her drastically.

It was Emma. She had been dreaming about her blonde student. The brunette wasn't exactly sure what had happened to the blonde but based on her own experiences she could only guess. And her mind, her treacherous mind, had decided to fill in some pretty graphic details while she was asleep. So now here she was, laying in a tangled sweaty mess on her bed and she could not go back to sleep to save her life.

Kicking off her blankets Regina decides to head to the kitchen for some much needed coffee. Stumbling down the stairs the brunette makes it to the kitchen and searches her coffee cupboard. After searching frantically for about five minutes the brunette slams her hands on the counter and lets out a stream of curses. She remembers now, frustratingly too late, that she had the last cup yesterday and was supposed to buy more after she had left the diner. However she was so upset after talking to Emma that it had completely slipped her mind.

Glancing at the clock the brunette sees that it is now one in the morning. Regina knows that the grocery clerk, Mr. Clark, keeps the store open till three in the morning on Fridays and Saturdays. She rubs her eyes trying to decide if she should even bother or if she should just try and go back to sleep. However, realizing that sleep will not return to her this morning, the brunette resigns herself to getting that much needed coffee.

Grabbing her coat and keys Regina heads out her front door and walks to her car. She has one hand on the handle of the black Mercedes when she realizes what a beautiful night it is._ The grocery store is only about a ten minute walk from here. _The brunette thinks. _And walking might help me clear my head as well. _She lets go of the car handle and starts walking in the direction of the town center.

Across town Emma Swan screams and jumps up into a sitting position, smacking her forehead into the roof of her car. "Fuck! Shit! Fuck! God dammit!" The blonde yells holding her forehead. She sticks her head between her legs and breathes deeply, waiting for the pain to subside. Once the pain has receded the blonde looks at her sweaty limps tangled in her leather jacket that she had used as a sort of blanket last night. She curses again, under her breath this time. _Stupid nightmare_. She thinks angrily, and punches the back of the driver's seat in front of her. It wasn't enough that Mark had dominated her waking moments but now he's in her dreams as well.

Pushing the jacket from her legs Emma checks the time on the dashboard. 1:05 shines back in red letters. The blonde exits the bug and forcefully slams the door shut trying to release her pent up anger. Still extremely pissed the blonde decides to go for a walk to calm herself down. Emma surveys her surroundings in an effort to decide which way she should walk. She had parked the bug in the alley behind the diner last night so as not to be seen. So if she heads to the right, towards downtown, she can circle back and re-enter the alley from the left. Figuring this is the best way to go the blonde takes off towards the town center.

The breeze blows lightly, bringing with it a sudden chill. Regina wraps her coat tighter around herself and continues walking at a leisurely pace towards the grocery store. She's about five minutes out when she hears pounding footsteps behind her. She turns slightly, curious as to who could possibly be out this at this hour. As she thinks that she chuckles lightly. _Me duh._ She stops and waits for the figure who is jogging down the street, beyond curious as to the identity of the person. It's fairly dark out so she can only make out the fact that it's a women so she isn't afraid of being hurt. As the figure steps closer and into a beam of light from the street lamp her eyes widen.

"Emma?" She questions, incredulously. The blonde comes to a sudden halt and gapes at the brunette.

"Ms. Mills?!" Emma half screams, completely taken aback. "What… What are you doing out here. It's like, one o'clock." The blonde puts her hands on her knees and breathes deeply, winded from her run. 

"I could ask you the same question dear. Shouldn't you be home? It's way past curfew." Regina half scolds half questions. She walks closer to the blonde and waits for her to stand back up.

"I…I didn't go home." Emma replies sheepishly, standing back up. "I couldn't. You're not gonna rat me out are you?" She looks right at Regina as she says this, pleading with her eyes.

Regina sighs and at looks at the purple bruise on Emma's face. "No dear. I won't rat you out."

"Thank you." The blonde replies in earnest. She shuffles her feet and hugs her chest. She had left her jacket in the car and it was getting colder now that she wasn't angrily running down the road.

"Don't you have a jacket Emma?" Regina questions, noticing the way the blonde is shivering and hugging her chest.

"No I uh… I left it in my car…" The blonde looks down and scuffs her shoe on the ground embarrassed.

Regina shucks her coat from her shoulders and offers it to Emma. She herself has a long sleeved shirt on so the cold won't affect her as much as the blonde who is only donning a white tank top. "Here. Take it Emma. You're going to get sick out here without a jacket."

Lifting her head up and gaping at the brunette, Emma slowly accepts the jacket and places it on her shoulders. Instantly she feels warmer. "Thanks." She gives Regina a lopsided grin that melts the brunettes' heart.

"You're very welcome dear. Now, do you mind telling me why you are out here? And why, by the sound of it, you are sleeping in your car?" Regina questions gently. She sees a bench a couple of feet up the road and motions for Emma to walk with her towards it. Once seated, Emma all the way to the right and Regina all the way to the left, the brunette turns towards the blonde expectantly waiting for her reply.

Taking a few deep breaths to steady herself Emma begins. "I can't go home. I mean… I can. It's not like I got kicked out but I won't go home. I just…" Emma sighs and plays with the lapels of Regina's jacket. Dropping her voice to a whisper the blonde finishes her statement. "I can't." A few stray tears leak their way down Emma's face. She leaves them there though, unwilling to draw attention to them. She hopes the darkness will shield her face.

Regina still sees them however. She wars with herself on whether to press the blonde further or leave it at that. The brunette desperately wants to know the source of Emma's pain so she can help but she doesn't want to push the girl away by asking too much of her too soon. The brunette sighs, reaching her decision. "I won't pry Emma but I can't just leave you out here alone."

Emma snaps her head up and scans her teachers face. "Please." She sobs. "Please don't make me go home." Her body convulses and a wave of terror overtakes her. She begins to sob harder, tears flowing down her face freely. "please." She continues to mumble.

Something inside Regina breaks. She becomes angry and sad. A swirling cesspool of emotions flood her system. The brunette will never understand how someone could do this to a child. Could tear them down so badly that they didn't want to go home. Home should be a safe haven for children. Not a nightmare. It's these emotions raging inside her that make her offer. It's these emotions that fuel the next words out of her mouth. She knows this offer is highly inappropriate but she doesn't care. She will not leave Emma out here, feeling like this, all alone. The brunette doesn't even want to think about what the blonde could do to herself out here all alone with no one to comfort her. So she asks. She looks Emma right in the eyes and asks, "Would you like to come to my house with me?"


	9. Chapter 9

"Would you like to come to my house with me?" Ms. Mills asks as she glances at the blonde. Emma's head snaps up to her teachers face and her eyes widen comically.

"Wh…what?" The blonde stutters, sure she has heard the brunette incorrectly.

"I asked if you wanted to stay at my house tonight Miss. Swan." Regina replies. She adds the formality of Emma's last name to make it seem more appropriate even though she is well aware that that makes no difference. She is the blonde's teacher after all and no amount of formality would make what she is offering okay in the eyes of the school board. At this point however she could care less about how other people would perceive this. Right now is about Emma. Right now is about keeping Emma safe, from herself.

"I… That's really not necessary Ms. Mills." Emma replies and ducks her head back down to fiddle with the lapels of Regina's coat once more.

"Maybe. But I'm not leaving you out here alone Miss. Swan. And since you clearly won't go home the only other option is to come to my house." The teacher states gently.

Emma slowly lifts her head back up and sighs. "There is a third option actually."

"Oh? And what might that be dear?" The brunette tilts her head to the side curious as to where the blonde is going with this.

"Well I could do what I was doing, you know staying in my car, and you can just continue whatever it was you were doing." Emma says, frustration laced in her voice. She knows that her teacher is only trying to help and she knows she should be grateful but she isn't. The reason she even bumped into the brunette was because of one of her stupid nightmares. There was no way she would let her teacher witness one of those. The blonde saw the way she had woken up and she didn't want anyone else to see her like that. Vulnerable. What right did Ms. Mills have butting in on her life anyways?

Regina gapes and she opens and closes her mouth trying to find some kind of reply but words have escaped her. She could still just walk away now. Just leave Emma to do what she wants and stop thinking about it. The brunette can't walk away however for three reasons. One being that she knows Emma's history and there is no way she would leave someone with that past alone and broken in the middle of town. The second reason being that she knows there is no way to stop worrying about the girl. She won't ever sleep again if she knows the blonde is just wandering the streets of town hurt and alone. The final reason is she knows exactly what the blonde is feeling. Regina knows that Emma is pushing her away to protect herself. Being vulnerable around people is terrifying for people like them.

With this in mind Regina scoots herself on the bench until she is right beside the blonde. Close enough to touch but far enough away to not accidently touch. She clears her throat to alert the blonde to her closer presence and begins to speak once tired eyes have locked onto hers. "I get that you want to be left alone Emma," she decides to drop the formalities again in an effort to calm the blonde. "I really do understand. And I know you want nothing more than to get up from this bench and just disappear but that's not going to happen. We have only just met but I have begun to care about you. You remind me of myself so much and I can't just let you go. Not like this. Not while you are upset. I know how that feels Emma. I know what that feeling makes you want to do. So no, there is no third option. I just cannot leave you out here." Regina finishes and places her hands in her lap in fear that if she reaches out to the girl she will pull away or run. She looks into the blondes eyes and can see the unshed tears there, barely staying put.

"I…I guess I have no choice then." The blonde sighs. "I mean it's really nice of you to offer and stuff but I like being on my own. It's not like I'm going to kill myself or anything."

Now it's Regina's turn to sigh. She closes her eyes for a moment to center herself. When she reopens them she can see that the blonde is once again staring at the ground. "Miss Sw… Emma. Please just come stay at my house. You do have a choice, I'm not forcing you. I apologize for making it seem that way I just…" the brunette sighs again and recollects her thoughts. "Just stay tonight. For me. I won't be able to sleep worrying about you wandering around out here."

"Who asked you to worry about me?!" Emma yells, exasperated. She knows she should just agree, her car is way too cramped to actually sleep comfortably, but she has so much on her shoulders and she just needs to yell at someone. Anyone. Ms. Mills just happened to be that someone. She only feels slightly guilty though considering her teacher really does have no business worrying about her like this.

"No one asked me Emma but I'm afraid it's gotten to the point where I can't help but worry. I know you don't want to talk about what has been going on or how you got that bruise and I won't push you. But you have to understand where I'm coming from here. I get told by all the other teachers that you are a terrible student but then you walk into my class excited to learn. But Emma, that first day of class was the only day that I saw you happy. The next three days you came in upset and distracted. You seemed afraid of something. And then yesterday you come to class with that bruise and you started crying when I asked about it. How can I not worry? Especially when you so obviously have no one to talk to, or you just won't talk to anyone. I just can't help but think you are going to hurt yourself and that upsets me. So please, just come to my house." Regina practically begs that last sentence as she stares into the blondes eyes.

"Okay. I'll go." Emma whispers, unable to say anymore for fear the tears she can feel in the corner of her eyes will fall and she won't be able to stop them once they do. Regina stares at the blonde for a second confused by the sudden acceptance but shakes it off.

"Thank you." The brunette says and begins to get up from the bench. She glances at the watch on her wrist and sees that it is now 3:30 in the morning. _Well no coffee again I guess._ Regina thinks as she and Emma begin to walk in the direction of her house. _Oh well._

Regina awakes to a shrill screaming. She shoots up in bed and looks around through bleary eyes confused as to where the noise is coming from. She looks at her clock to see that it is just after six in the morning. Her sleep addled mind tries to catch up to her ears and then she remembers. Emma. Emma was sleeping in the guestroom down the hall. Regina jumps out of bed and scrambles to the door, throwing it open with a bang in her rush to get to the blonde. The screaming gets louder as she reaches the guestroom door. Turning the knob the brunette rushes in the room and gasps. Emma is sprawled on the bed tangled in sheets, screaming and writhing. Regina couldn't make out the words the blonde was screaming from her room but now here, so close to the girl, Regina could hear the chilling words the blonde was screaming.

"No! Please! No stop! Get off me! GET OFF ME!" Emma screams slapping at the air as if someone was on top of her and holding her down. The blonde whimpers and begins to repeat, "Please." Over and over again. The brunette had seen enough and quickly rushes over to the side of the bed and gently shakes Emma's shoulders.

"Emma. Emma wake up! It's just a dream!" The blonde shoots her hand out and connects her fist with the side of Regina's face. Stunned, the brunette takes a step back and brings her hand up to her cheek. Emma's eyes snap open and she looks around confused.

"Wh…what's going on?" She questions in a fearful voice. She looks down at her limbs which are completely tangled in the sheets. She then looks up to Regina and notices the look of fear on her face.

"You were screaming in your sleep so I was trying to wake you up." Regina supplies, still cupping her sore cheek.

"Why are you…" the blonde starts then realizes what must have happened. "Oh god did I hit you?" She gasps. She pulls herself up into a sitting position and edges quickly off the bed, untangling herself from the sheets as she moves. "Oh my god. Oh my god." Emma whispers, mortified. She takes a few steps towards Regina, bringing her hands up but then quickly bringing them back down at her sides. "I'm so so sorry."

"It's alright dear. I shouldn't have shaken you when you were already thrashing around. It's my fault." The brunette replies and releases her hand from her cheek. "I'm okay, really."

Emma looks closer at Regina's quickly reddening cheek and tears begin to spill down her face. She takes a step back, intending to sit back on the bed, but ends up crashing to the floor as a sob is torn from her body. Regina drops to the floor beside the girl and wraps her up in a hug, letting the blonde cry into her chest. She holds the blonde tight until the wracking sobs dwindle down to slight hiccups.

Once Emma starts to calm down she pulls away from her teacher slightly and wipes at her eyes. She looks again to the mark on the brunette's face which is now beginning to turn a purplish color. It reminds the blonde of her own bruise and she reaches her hand up and touches it gently, barely ghosting her fingertips over the injured flesh. "I'm sorry." She mumbles again and drops her hand back down in her lap. "I didn't mean to hurt you."

Regina brings the girl back in for a quick hug. "Honestly dear, it's okay. I know it wasn't your intention. You were just scared." She releases the blonde and looks at her face. A stray wisp of hair has gotten stuck to Emma's tear stained cheek and the brunette gently pushes it back behind the blondes' ear. Suddenly feeling all too close to her teacher Emma scoots back a couple feet and quickly stands up. Feeling claustrophobic and way too vulnerable she sprints from the room and down the steps to the front door, leaving behind the brunette on the floor, stunned and confused.


	10. Chapter 10

It's six o'clock Monday morning and Regina wakes feeling exhausted. Sleep has seemed to evade her since the night of Emma's quick and unexpected departure. The brunette did manage to grab two or so hours of rest this morning, however judging by the way she currently feels, Regina thinks that she probably should have just stayed up. Sighing, the woman gets up from her bed and heads to the bathroom to prepare herself before heading to work.

While applying her make-up the brunette finds there is no way to totally hide the now ugly blue-purple bruise that takes up half of her right cheek. She does manage to hide it enough that it is unnoticeable from a distance but if someone were to get close it would be obvious. After five minutes of trying to, unsuccessfully, cover the bruise, Regina relents and continues getting ready. Throughout her morning routine all Regina could think about was Emma. _Is she okay? Will she show up to class today? Will she talk to me? _

Once Regina is as ready as she will ever be she checks the clock on her kitchen wall and sees that it is now 7:15. Having to be at work at 7:45 the brunette grabs her car keys and makes her way down the drive-way to her Mercedes. Getting in the car and closing the door Regina is just about to start the car up when she notices a torn piece of paper stuck under the wipers on her windshield. Figuring it was probably just an advertisement of some sort the brunette starts the car and begins backing out of her drive-way.

Becoming annoyed about the paper flapping on the windshield however, the brunette stops the car and turns her wipers on in an attempt to free the paper from its hold. After the third swipe it slips from underneath the wiper and drifts lightly in the air. Regina watches the paper flutter with mild curiosity. She can only make out the word **'I'm'** and is about to dismiss it and continue driving until she notices something else. _It's handwritten._ As soon as this thought crosses the woman's mind she is out of the car and snatching the paper from the air. The brunette smooths the sheet out in her hands and then reads the note. Gasping, Regina drops the paper and brings her hand up to cover her mouth. _Oh god._

"**Goodbye Miss Mills. Thank you for trying. I'm Sorry.**

**-Emma" **

Across town in the alley behind Granny's Diner Emma sits on top of her car and watches as the sun rises over the horizon. The sun, now having fully risen, shines down on Emma's skin making her pale skin seem slightly iridescent. The blonde glances down at her phone, checking the time once last time before she leaves. 7:27 glares back at her and Emma sighs. The blonde hauls herself down from the roof and enters her bug, weary and excited about the journey ahead. She hasn't decided where she is headed exactly. All she has managed to decide is that she wants to head south. Maybe go to Florida or California. All she truly knows is that she is leaving this place.

Doing a last minute check of her car Emma notices that she had forgotten to get gas. Seeing as the needle was pointing almost directly on the** E **there was no way to leave town first and then stop for gas. Mentally kicking herself Emma starts her car and heads to the only gas station in town. It's about a five minute drive and the blonde finds herself using this time to think about who she is leaving behind.

Mark and Karen, in Emma's opinion could just go fuck themselves. Miss Mills was super nice and tried to help but Emma barely knew her and figured the brunette teacher would forget about her soon anyways. Then there was Ruby. She had been Emma's best and only friend when no one else would. The blonde thinks about the last conversation her and Ruby had and grimaces. She hated to leave their friendship like that but Emma knew that if she went to fix things and say goodbye she wouldn't be able to leave. _I can't. I have to go. I can't do this anymore. _The blonde thinks. She finds herself pulling into the gas station suddenly and slams on the brakes in surprise. Emma realizes that she had completely zoned out on the drive to the station and she sends out silent thanks that her mind knew how to get here and that she hadn't crashed.

Regaining her bearings Emma drives to an open gas pump and parks the bug. She pulls the money she had been saving for three years from doing odd jobs from her pocket and heads inside the gas station. Upon entering she glances at the clock behind the register and sees that it is now 7:38. _School will be starting in twenty minutes._ She sighs at this thought and heads up to the counter.

Regina stays frozen in place, staring down at the note now laying on the ground. A thousand thoughts run through her mind, each new thought being worse than the previous one. _Goodbye? Is she leaving? Where would she go? Oh god. Oh god what if this is…. What if she's…? Oh no. Oh god. _The brunette snaps herself out of the trance before she can finish that thought. Frantically she looks at her watch, 7:28. Regina knows she must be at the school in fifteen minutes but she finds herself warring between going to work or searching for Emma.

_I need this job. It's a good job. _The brunette thinks and is just about to turn around and get in her car to go to work when a stray thought suddenly pops up. _I need Emma_. She gasps at the sudden thought and quickly corrects it in her mind. _Emma needs ME._

Regina gets into her car, resolved to the fact that she must find her blonde student before anything could happen to her. Turning the key in the ignition the brunette is about to begin driving but then stops suddenly. _Where would she be? That note has probably been there since Emma left Sunday morning. Where do I go? _Close to an all-out break down Regina curses at herself. This is absolutely no time for a freak-out. Upon realizing this the brunette decides to make a plan, do this one step at a time.

Regina glances at her dashboard to check if she has enough gas to go driving all around town. Noticing that she only has just under a fourth of a tank left the brunette decides that step number one in her 'Find Emma' plan must be to get gas. Seeing as there was only one gas station in Storybrooke Regina drives in that direction, trying, and failing, to not continue freaking out about the blonde.

Emma is filling up her gas tank when her phone beeps from within her back pocket. She sighs and grabs it, unlocking the screen and clicking on her messages. The blonde feels a lump began to form in her throat as she realizes that the message is from Ruby.

**Ruby: Hey Em. I know things have been shitty between us but can u meet me the front doors of school? We need 2 talk.**

Letting a tear fall Emma closes her phone and places it on the trash bin next to the pump, resigned to continue on. She would get a new phone and a new number once she was in a new town. The blonde knew that Ruby would be upset and then worried when Emma didn't respond or show up but this was something she needed to do. She hoped Ruby would understand. Someday…

Suddenly feeling very eager to leave Emma finishes filling up her bug and hurries to the driver's seat. The blonde pulls out of the gas station and heads down the quite road, heading south and not looking back. Never looking back.

Regina pulls into the gas station and parks in front of the nearest pump. Exiting her car, the brunette walks into the store to pay for her gas. Once the gas has been paid for she starts to pump it into her car, mind continuing to question Emma's possible whereabouts.

Her gaze begins to wander around the scenery, not really seeing, while she thinks. A loud *beep* jolts Regina from her thoughts and she looks around, confused. A flashing light from atop the trash bin catches the brunette's eye and she walks over to find a forgotten cellphone. Planning to take it in to the gas station for 'Lost and Found', Regina picks the phone up. Apparently the beep that had startled the brunette was a message and she finds herself looking down at the flashing screen.

**Ruby: Emma? Are you still mad? Plz answer me…**

Gasping, Regina almost drops the phone but catches it at the last minute. _This is Emma's phone! How long has it been here? Why would she leave her phone? If she doesn't need a phone… _Regina forcibly stops her thought process before it can lead down that road again. She decides to scroll through the messages to see if there was any clue to where Emma might be.

After scrolling for a couple of minutes, Regina becomes frustrated that this would lead nowhere. She frantically tries to come up with a way to use the phone to find Emma. She was so close, Regina could feel it. Suddenly the brunette has an idea and sprints into the store coming to a skidding halt at the counter.

"Excuse me." Regina huffs out, still momentarily out of breathe. "Was there a blonde girl in here earlier? She was young, in high school."

The man behind the counter peers down at her curiously. "Uh, yeah. You just missed her. She left about 10 minutes ago."

"She…She was just here..." The brunette says this as a statement, in a voice barely above a whisper.

"Uh, yeah." The man answers, even more curious than before.

"Which way did she go?!" Regina practically yells but then blushes and looks down. "Sorry, I'm just worried about her."

"Uh, she went that way." The man indicates the direction by pointing out the window.

Without giving the man a second glance Regina throws a quick, 'Thank you' over her shoulder as she sprints out the door and hurriedly climbs into her car. The brunette throws the Mercedes in drive and speeds off down the quiet road.


	11. Chapter 11

Driving down the quiet road just past the "Leaving Storybrooke' sign Emma silently curses the fact that her bug isn't a convertible. She has both windows down and the breeze feels amazing, especially on such a hot yet beautiful day. _Perfect day for a getaway road trip._ Emma muses to herself. The blonde checks the clock on her dash and notices with a start that she's only been on the road for thirty minutes or so. _Has it really only been thirty minutes?_ The blonde questions herself. _Well I guess when you're hoping to get away your whole life actually leaving just seems to take so much longer. _Emma sighs aloud at this, wishing, not for the first time, that her life had gone down a different path.

The young girl finds herself wishing for the parents she never knew. She had made herself stop thinking about the people who given her up before she could even walk or talk. Now, with tears suddenly streaming down the blondes face, she remembers why she had stopped thinking about them.

Emma begins to violently sob, tears and mucus now streaming down her face. The blonde stops driving the bug only when the tears become too much and she can no longer see the road ahead of her. She parks on the side of the road and turns her hazard lights on, fearing another car will hit her on this one way road, and lays her head on the steering wheel. She lets herself cry, which is something she rarely allows herself to do. _Except for this past week._ Emma half laughs half sobs to herself.

Now that she's letting herself cry and really think about her life everything begins to flood in all at once. _Why did they abandon me? Why didn't they want me? Why did that family give me away after they had their own kid? Why has every family I've been placed with hate me? What's wrong with me? Why are people letting this happen to me? Am I bad? Is that why my parents gave me up? Is that why Karen let's Mark beat me? Is that why Mark…_ A giant sob over takes the blonde upon the thought of Mark and what he did to her. She begins pounding her fists against her steering wheel violently, fresh tears mingling in the tracks of the old ones.

Regina speeds down the quiet road, slowing only when she comes up to the 'Leaving Storybrooke' sign. She muses to herself about how she has never left this town, finding herself slightly anxious to do so now. Emma pops into her head though and she picks up speed once more, passing the sign without looking back.

The brunette is wondering to herself how far Emma could have managed to go when she sees someone's hazard lights blinking in the distance. Checking the opposite lane for any cars and finding none, Regina switches into the lane planning on just passing the car up. _It could be a killer. I can't stop. They probably have help coming. I have to find Emma anyways. _The brunette thinks, hoping to quell the guilt she begins to feel.

Regina nears the car and can only make out the color. Yellow. The brunette's heart skips a beat. Inching closer now she can make out the model of the car. VW Bug. Regina slams on the brakes, putting her car in park simultaneously and throws her car door open so fast she thinks she may have broken it. In two quick strides the brunette is now facing the driver's window of the car. Peering in, she gasps and clasps her hand to her mouth. _Oh Emma. _Regina wrenches open the door of the bug to reveal Emma; passed out with blood all over her arms and hands.

Ruby stares at her phone for about the twentieth time. _Where the hell is she? And why the hell isn't she answering?_ The brunette is perched on the stairwell leading to the front doors of the school. The starting bell rang ten minutes ago but the teen had no intention of going in. Not if she couldn't get ahold of Emma.

Ruby had been sitting here for 40 minutes waiting for the blonde. Since it was a small school she was able to watch everyone enter. Well everyone except for Emma. Which could only mean that the blonde wasn't here today. That coupled with the missed texts and Emma's state of mind this last week set Ruby on edge and she began to seriously worry about her blonde friend. _Oh god I hope she didn't do anything stupid…_ With this thought floating in her mind the brunette teen jumps up from her seat and starts running in the opposite direction from the school.

Ten minutes later Ruby finds herself panting on the front porch of Emma's house. She rests her hands on her knees and tries to calm down her breathing. It was a far run from school. _I guess it's a good thing I like running._ Ruby chuckles to herself as she straightens up and gently knocks on the door. While she waits for an answer, the brunette silently prays that it's Emma that answers and that she's just sick or something.

Her face falls however when Karen opens the door and peers down at the teen suspiciously. "Shouldn't you be in school dear?" Karen asks, cocking her head to the side in correspondence with her question.

"Uh, yeah, but I was just wondering if I could talk to Emma? She's not answering my texts and I really need to talk to her." Ruby replies, peering around Karen, hoping to get a glance of Emma in the house. Karen furrows her brow and Ruby's heart starts to sink before the older woman can even get her sentence out.

"Emma's at school dear. Where you should be. Now run along before I call the truancy officer." The woman says before rudely closing the door in the shocked brunettes face.

_If she isn't here…And she isn't at school…Oh god Em where are you?_ Frantically Ruby runs from the porch, heading in no particular direction. _I need to find Emma._

"Oh God. Oh God. Emma. Emma please wake up! Emma what did you do?!" Regina yells at the unconscious blonde who she has now pulled from the car. The brunette cradles the blonde in her arms as she fumbles for her phone in her back pocket, now uncontrollably whispering, "Please. Emma please." Over and over again. Once Regina finds her phone she quickly dials 911 and yells out the situation to the operator screaming at him to send someone quickly, not able to calm down as the man was now telling her to do. Emma could be… No, she couldn't calm down.

Ruby runs to the only place she can think of that will be of any help in her Emma search. The cellphone store. As she enters the building a bell dings to signal her arrival and the store owner walks up to the counter to greet her.

"Hello Ma'am. What can I help you with today?"

"Uh yeah, I lost my cellphone and I was hoping you could track the GPS for me?" Ruby smiles and tilts her head in a begging manner.

The clerk laughs. "Ah, teenagers these days, always losing things. Alright Hun, what's your name and phone number?"

Ruby quickly scrawls Emma's number on a piece of paper along with Emma's name and hands it back to the clerk. "Thank you so much!" The brunette yells after the woman who has retreated to a computer in the back.

Five minutes later the woman calls Ruby over to her computer and points at the phones location on the screen. The brunette leans in closer so she can see the location and she freezes. She can feel the blood drain from her face so she isn't surprised when the clerk turns to her, gasping, "Are you okay?"

Ruby shakes herself, "Yeah. Yeah I'm fine. I'm sorry. I just…forgot that's where I left it. Thanks!" Quickly the teen runs from the shop and heads in the direction of Emma's phone, tears rolling down her face as she runs faster than she ever has before.


	12. Chapter 12

Ruby runs into Storybrooke General Hospital in a frenzy. The brunette skids to a stop in front of the nurses' station, causing all the nurses in the area to whip their heads around in her direction. "Emma… Swan." Ruby huffs out, still almost completely out of breath from running. "Wh… Where is she?"

A doctor walks calmly up to the panting teenager. Ruby guesses he is in his late thirties maybe early forties. He has short light brown hair that's slicked back. The doctor places a hand on Ruby's shoulder, forcing the girl to stop shaking.

Once the brunette has made eye contact with him he begins to speak. "Hello, my name is Dr. Whale. I heard you asking about Emma Swan?" Ruby, unable to form words, nods as tears begin to stream down her face. "Don't worry, she is quite alright. We have her in room 108. Here, let me take you to her." Dr. Whale gently guides the still bawling brunette down the hall and to the right.

Reaching room 108 Dr. Whale lightly knocks on the door before peeking in. "We have someone here who would like to see Emma." Someone quietly replies, Ruby is unable to hear the words. The doctor looks at the teen. "What's your name hun?"

"Oh, it's um… I mean… I'm Ruby." The brunette stutters out. Dr. Whale relays this information to the speaker in the room and Ruby tries to peek around the man to see who is talking. Suddenly though, Dr. Whale is opening the door wider and nods towards Ruby, indicating that she may enter now. The brunette whispers a quick "Thank you" and steps through the door. Dr. Whale nods and closes the door on his way out.

Once inside the teen can now see who had been speaking to the doctor. The brunette looks the older woman up and down, confused. "Who… Who are you?" She questions the woman. The older brunette sighs and sits down in a chair that had been pushed up beside the hospital bed that the blonde was laying in.

"My name is Regina, I'm Emma's Creative Writing teacher." Regina replies looking up at the brunette through tired eyes.

"Wait. You're… You're Miss Mills?" Ruby gasps out, remembering the blonde talking about the new teacher.

"I am." Regina answers with a slight smirk. _So Emma has mentioned me. _

Suddenly remembering the reason for being at the hospital Ruby rushes up to the unconscious blonde in the bed. Ruby looks down at Emma, trying to see what was wrong with her friend. Noticing the bandages on the blondes' hands Ruby gasps. "Oh no. Not again." She whispers as more tears begin to cascade down her cheeks. Turning her head to Regina, who is silently watching her from the chair, the brunette whispers "What happened?"

Regina looks at Ruby and sighs once again. "I'm not sure dear. All I know is I was trying to find Emma and when I found her she was passed out in her car unconscious and bleeding from her hands. The doctor told me that she hadn't cut herself. She more… beat her fists on her steering wheel until she passed out." The woman pauses in her speech and looks over at the blonde. "She hasn't woken up yet. The doctors say she should soon though. They think she just over exerted herself."

"You were looking for Emma? Why? How long have you guys been here?" Ruby questions as she pulls a second chair up to the bed and sits down.

Regina isn't exactly sure how much to tell the young brunette. She wonders if she should leave out the part of Emma spending the night at her place. Deciding to leave that bit of information out, Regina replies in a whisper. "She left me a note saying that she was sorry and she said goodbye. So naturally I assumed she was going to…" Regina pauses as her voice cracks. Ruby notices and tilts her head slightly but remains silent. "I assumed she would try to kill herself. I had heard about what happened freshman year and I was worried. So I drove around to try and find her. Which," The brunette points towards Emma, "I did. As for your other question, we have only been here for an hour or so." Finishing Regina looks back over at the brunette teen, waiting for her response. Ruby stays silent however and looks back at Emma, lost in thought.

Her hands hurt. Her head hurts too. _Oh god. What happened? _Emma thinks. She tries to crack her eyes open but it's too bright so she quickly closes them and lets out a moan. Someone gasps from the other side of the room and the blonde is tempted to open her eyes again. However knowing the brightness of the room she refrains from doing so. Now someone is holding her hand and she can feel them hovering over her. She lets out a moan again, wishing her head didn't feel like it was going to explode.

"Emma?" A voice calls out. It's too loud. The blonde moans. "Emma!" _Oh god shut up._ Emma screams inside her head. "She's waking up!" The person yells again. _Why are they yelling?! _She can now feel the presence of a second person. Sighing Emma cracks one eye open, curious to see who the hell is yelling. The brightness invades her brain once again and she quickly snaps her eyes shut.

"T… Too bright." Emma manages to rasp out._ I need water_. The hand that was holding hers is snapped away. Soon she can hear footsteps quickly retreating followed by a slight *click*.

"Okay Em, I turned the light off. You can open your eyes now." The voice says, now back near Emma's head.

Immediately the blonde recognizes the voice, "Ruby for the love of god stop shouting. You're killing me." Emma moans out. She opens her eyes and is happy to find that the lights are indeed off. "God I need some water Rubes." Immediately the brunette thrusts a cup of water into the blondes' hand. Gratefully Emma takes it and chugs all of the water, sighing in relief as the cool liquid soothes her throat. "Thanks." Emma hands the cup back to Ruby and sighs. "What happened Ruby?"

Whispering this time Ruby answers. "You beat your hands up pretty bad Em. I don't really know all the details, just that when Regina found you, you were passed out and bleeding."

Emma had closed her eyes again while Ruby was talking but upon hearing the name 'Regina' she snapped her eyes open. "Who's Regina?"

"Oh, sorry. Regina is Miss Mills. Your Creative Writing teacher?" Ruby replies, meeting Emma's eyes which have now significantly widened.

"Wait. So… _Miss Mills _found me?" Emma questions, oblivious to said brunette in the corner who was now listening silently.

Ruby glances in Regina's direction then looks back at Emma. "Uh… yeah…"

Noticing her friends glance Emma looks over to where the brunette had looked. She spots Regina and gasps, dropping her head as a blush creeps its way up her neck. Emma directs the next words to her teacher although she keeps her head down. "Where… where did you find me?"

Regina moves over to the bed and stares down at her blonde student. "On the side of the road dear. You had your hazards on and when I looked in your window you were passed out and…" Regina mentally curses her voice for cracking. "bleeding."

Emma ducks her head in embarrassment, she can feel the blush becoming more prominent upon her face. "Sorry." She whispers, barely audible.

Regina sighs. "You shouldn't have left like that Emma. And that note! I thought…I thought…" The brunette trails off, unable to say it for a second time.

"She thought you were going to kill yourself Em." Ruby jumps in. "And I don't blame her either, I would have thought the same thing! That was so stupid to leave like that! I mean I'm glad you're okay but… Goddammit Emma! What were you thinking?!"

Emma's jaw drops. She wasn't expecting to be chewed out so quickly. Angry tears begin to fall down her face and she slowly sits up in bed. "I was thinking I didn't want to fucking be here anymore okay?! I wanted to leave! Leave this stupid fucking town! Leave Karen and… and…" Emma's anger is gone as soon as it had started and she begins to sob. The blonde lays her head back down and cries into her pillow, her body shaking with the force of her sobs.

"God… Em… I'm sorry. I didn't mean to… I didn't mean to yell at you." Ruby stutters out.

"Just… Just go Ruby. Please. Just go." Emma manages to whisper.

Ruby's eyes widen and she opens her mouth, about to say something else, but she quickly snaps it shut again. Hanging her head the brunette exits the room, leaving a sobbing Emma alone with a terrified Regina.


	13. Chapter 13

**AN: Hey guys! Thank you so much for sticking with me this far! I love you guys (: Please READ, **_**REVIEW**_** and **_**ENJOY!**_

Crying, Ruby runs out of Storybrooke General Hospital and onto the street. She glances around, unsure of where she should go now._ God I'm such an idiot! _The brunette berates herself and slaps her forehead. _I mean, it's not like what she did wasn't stupid though. I can't believe she kicked me out. I'm just worried about her!_ She lets out a scream and takes off running towards town, cursing everything that's happened.

Emma lays flat in her hospital bed and stares at her hands, unwilling to look at her teacher. As the silence ticks on the blonde begins to feel more and more uncomfortable until she can't stand it any longer.

"Please say something." Emma whispers and looks up at the brunette who is staring at the wall, expressionless.

Regina slowly turns her head in Emma's direction and makes eye contact with the blonde. The brunette sighs and clears her throat. "What do you want me to say Emma?"

"I don't know!" Emma cries out, frustrated. "Anything! This silence is killing me."

Regina ducks her head down and sighs once again. Whispering, she replies. "Why did you do it?"

Emma's eyes widen. "What?"

"Why did you do it Emma? Why did you leave like that? What's really going on?" The brunette scoots her chair so it's now touching Emma's bed and leans on the mattress, searching the blondes face.

"I… I don't... I can't…" Emma trails off as new tears begin to form. She curses herself for being so weak. For constantly crying. She never used to cry. Never. And now, now she's been reduced to a pathetic puddle. _This is all Marks fault!_

Regina grabs Emma's hand between her own and squeezes, trying to comfort the girl as much as she can. "Please Emma. I know this is hard and I know I said I wouldn't push… but Emma, I need to know what's going on. I want to help you. You can't keep living like this. Please, let me help you."

Emma sighs and clears her throat, desperately trying to contain the sobs that want to force their way out. She squeezes Regina's hand and then pulls her own away. The blonde looks down and wrings her hands together, just barely winning the fight for control. "Miss Mills… I know you want to help okay? I get that. But…" Emma breaks off as a sob escapes. Regina sits silently, waiting for the blonde to continue. Emma takes a deep breath and continues on in a shaky voice. "But there is nothing you can do to make me want to stay. And I can't… I don't want to talk about what happened. I just can't."

Regina runs her hand through her hair and sighs. She looks at Emma's face and can see how hard the girl was fighting to control her tears. She knew that feeling. She knew exactly how agonizing it was to be questioned about something so utterly painful. And yet she also knew that if Emma never talked about what was happening she would never truly get over it.

Now Regina wasn't stupid, far from it actually. So she was well aware of what was probably going on. However she needed the blonde to say it. To speak it aloud so she could get past it and so that Regina could help her. The brunette meets Emma's gaze once again, eyes pleading for her to listen.

"Emma I understand how painful this is I do. And I am very much hoping to convince you to stay. However even if I cannot convince you to stay I also cannot let you leave without talking about what's going on. I cannot, in good conscience, let you get back in your car and drive god knows where feeling like this. All I can imagine is you hurting yourself. Or getting so upset that you accidently drive of the road. Please… Emma… Please just talk to me. I know it will be hard and I know you won't like it. You're going to cry and get upset, and that's okay. I will help you. I'm not leaving until you tell me."

And just like that Emma loses the fight for control as sobs begin to wrack her entire body. She turns her head into her pillows, shoulders shaking, and clutches the pillow to her face in an effort to muffle her cries. Regina gets up from her chair and sits on the empty space of the bed. The brunette leans over the crying girl and embraces her in a hug, tears sliding down her own face now. Emma turns over upon feeling her teacher's arms around her and nestles her head between the brunette's shoulder and neck. The tears begin to flow freely now, both Emma's and Regina's, both trails connecting on the brunettes shirt.

Several minutes pass like this, with both women holding on to each other and sobbing. Finally however, the sobs turn into sniffles and their embrace loosens. Emma is the first to pull away. She wipes her hands over her face in an attempt to clear the tear stains from her cheeks. Regina does the same as she sits up fully in the bed. The two stare at each other for a few silent seconds before Emma speaks. Her voice comes out hoarse and shaky but she continues on anyways.

"Okay. Okay I'll talk to you. But not here. I don't want to talk about it here."

"Thank you Emma. I really feel like this will help you." Regina smiles at the girl. Not a happy smile, more like a relieved sad smile and continues. "If you do not wish to discuss it here where would you like to?"

"Could I… Could I maybe stay at your place again tonight?" Emma questions, once again meeting her teacher's eyes.

Regina contemplates that question, knowing how inappropriate it was to have the girl already spend one night. Two nights, well now that was really bad. The brunette is just about to suggest another place in which they could talk when suddenly the door is slammed open and two figures appear.

"What the hell happened?!" Marks booms out, glaring at the two women in bed. Regina's eyes widen and she quickly stands from the bed, however she remains silent.

Mark walks over to the bed and stares angrily at the blonde who shrinks back as if burned. Karen stays in the doorway, looking on but remaining silent like Regina.

Mark reaches down and grabs Emma's arm, tightening his grip until Emma yelps. "I said, what the fuck happened?" His steely eyes burn into Emma's and the blonde lets out a frightened cry.

"I… I got hurt." Emma stammers out, trying and failing to pull her arm free.

"Yeah I can see that girl. I'll have you know I got a call, while at work, that you had hurt yourself trying to leave town! Where the hell do you think you were going huh? You think you can just leave me like that? Fuck no! You're mine and you will fucking do as I say or so help me" Before he can finish his sentence Regina is in his face, pure hatred burning in her eyes.

"Don't you dare talk to her like that!" Regina snarls. "And get your hand off her this instant!" When Mark refuses to retract his hand Regina pushes the man backwards with enough force to send him stumbling back a few inches which is just enough to release his grip on Emma. Mark stares at Regina for a few seconds, stunned. He quickly pulls himself together however and his face morphs, showing murderous anger. He steps back up to Regina so quickly that the brunette has no time to react and he shoves the woman back against the wall with considerably more force than the brunette had used.

Immediately the man moves till he is just inches from Regina's face and growls out, "I don't know who the fuck you think you are bitch but I swear to god if you ever fucking interrupt me again I will kill you. Do you understand me? And don't ever fucking tell me what to do to my own daughter got it! Now you're going to get the fuck out of here before it gets worse for you. You are going to walk out that fucking door right now and keep your nose out of my business. Got it bitch?" Mark is now seething, his breaths coming out in ragged puffs of air.

Regina removes herself from the wall and once again moves into Marks face, eyes blazing. "You will not speak to Emma like that do you understand! You can say whatever the hell you want to say to me but you will not speak to her like that. You also will not touch her again. Do I make myself clear? You do not own her. She is not yours. I will not be leaving. You will."

Marks barks out a laugh. "Or what?"

"Don't underestimate me, you have no idea what I'm capable of. So I suggest you get the hell out of here before I show you exactly what I mean." Regina hisses out. She takes a step closer to Mark and stands as tall as she can, unwilling to back down from this fight.

Emma stares at her teacher from the bed with her mouth agape. _What the fuck? Where the hell did that come from?_

Marks eyes widen a bit and he takes a step back, gaging the situation. He looks from Regina to Karen. Karen's eyes have gone comically wide and it looks as if she may have peed her pants. Mark looks back at Regina and takes another step backwards. "This isn't over." He grounds out. The man turns on his heel and grabs Karen's arm, roughly shoving her out the door in front of him. He takes one last look at Regina before scowling and walking out behind his wife, cursing loudly.

Regina relaxes her shoulders and lets out a breath before walking to the door and closing it. She stays facing the door for a moment, trying to calm her breathing down. Emma, who is now sitting up in bed with her mouth and eyes still wide, whispers to her teachers back, "Thank you."

Regina slowly turns around and smiles sadly. "You're welcome Emma." The brunette walks back to her chair, sits down and stares at her hands. "Yes" She whispers.

Emma cocks her head in confusion. "What? Yes what?"

Regina looks up and locks her gaze with the blondes. "You can stay the night again."


	14. Chapter 14

**AN: Hey guys! Thank you so much for sticking with me through this story. It is, however, far from over. I must warn you about this chapter, there are quite a bit of feels so… be prepared lol. Anyways my lovely readers, please READ, ****REVIEW**** and **_**ENJOY!**_

The car ride to Regina's house is eerily silent. Neither women wanting to broach the subject of what had happened back at the hospital. By the time Regina pulls her Mercedes into her driveway the tension between the two is palpable. The older woman turns off the car and gets out with Emma following suit. Once in the house both women stare at each other for a few seconds, unsure of what to do. Regina peeks down at her watch and sees that it is only three in the afternoon. _Oh god what the hell are we going to do for seven hours? _

Figuring that the young girl must be hungry, considering she herself was, Regina heads towards the kitchen. Emma hesitates for a moment before following silently. The blonde walks into the kitchen and glances around, unsure what to do with herself. She watches for a moment as Regina begins pulling various ingredients from the refrigerator. Catching herself staring, Emma blushes and moves to the nearest barstool, pulling it out as quietly as she can before she sits down. Transfixed, she watches Regina flit about the kitchen, chopping and mixing the mystery ingredients together.

While the silence stretches on Emma finds her mind drifting off once again. This time however her mind drifts to Regina, or more specifically, to what Regina did for her. Not only had the brunette missed school to track her down, found her and brought her to the hospital but she had also stood up for her like no one else had. _Ruby stood up for me_. The blonde thinks. _Not like this_. Her brain supplies back.

Emma finds herself wrestling with her emotions on the subject. On the one hand she was eternally grateful that the brunette had stood up for her the way that she had but on the other hand, Ms. Mills had seen Emma at her most vulnerable. Her teacher had seen her shrink in fear as Mark grabbed her and yelled in her face. There was nothing more that Emma hated than being seen as vulnerable; weak.

The blondes face scrunches up as she thinks about all the times that the brunette had seen her vulnerable side. She sighs as she realizes that the brunette has seen the worst part of her more times than Emma has seen her teacher in class. She hated the idea of this. She hated the idea that she came off as weak and helpless_. But you were, and she helped you._ Emma struggles to contain the groan that wants to slip past her lips. She knows Ms. Mills helped her, and she was truly grateful.

Her mind begins to play back the scene from the hospital, this time focusing on Regina. In her mind Emma watches Regina jump from the bed as Mark comes storming in. She watches the brunette stay silent until Mark grabs her. Paying close attention to Regina's face in her minds eye, the blonde sees something that she hadn't noticed before. Rage. Pure rage. And it was directed at Mark, for Emma. The blonde lets the rest of the scene play out and she watches Regina push Mark, which in turn caused Mark to push the brunette. Emma watches as Regina gets thrown against the wall and once again she pays close attention to her teachers face. That rage is still there, and where the blonde expected to see pain from being thrown into the wall, she instead saw something else. Something Emma couldn't quite place. She files this look away for later and continues to replay the scene. Now Regina is in Marks face again, she looks terrifying, Emma muses. And then there's Mark fleeing, leaving the two women alone…

*Slam* Emma snaps her head up, her eyes going wide and her shoulders tensing. She quickly refocuses her gaze to the present, trying to locate the sound. She notices Regina moving away from the oven and her shoulders relax. _She just closed the oven._ Emma chuckles to herself.

Regina quickly washes her hands and then walks up to the blonde. The brunette notices the look on the blondes face and cocks her head to the side in question. Emma masks her face, shaking her head and smiling. Regina sighs and takes the seat beside the blonde, moving her body to face the girl.

"Emma, we need to talk about what happened." Emma's smile is quickly wiped from her mouth and she looks down, sighing.

"I know." She whispers to the counter.

"Emma, look at me." Regina urges. Emma turns her head slightly, notices the frown on her teachers face and turns fully on the chair. Their faces are now inches apart and the blonde notes that if she were to move her knee an inch to the right it would brush against the brunettes. Shaking this thought from her mind Emma looks up and meets her teachers gaze.

"Thank you." Regina whispers and Emma nods in acknowledgement. The two stare at each other, once again stuck in silence. Regina takes a deep breath, preparing herself for the conversation ahead. She locks eyes with the blonde and speaks in a quiet voice, "Start at the beginning."

Emma barks out a laugh before catching herself and sighing. "Do you have a year?"

Regina grimaces at the thought of so much having happened to the blonde. She clears her throat and grabs Emma's hand, squeezing it lightly before letting it drop back in the blondes lap. "Okay, tell me about Mark."

Emma's face falls and this time she doesn't try to hide it. She looks down at her hands and begins wringing them together. "Well, he's my foster father, as you know." Regina nods but Emma goes unaware, still looking down. "He's… he's not the best foster parent I've had…" The blondes voice catches and she clears it. "Actually, he's the worst. At first I thought he was okay you know? He was always drinking and yelling but I've had worse so it didn't bother me. But then he started getting violent. He would… he would…"

Tears begin to stream from Emma's face now. She lets them fall though, resigned to the fact that these would not be the last ones of the night. Regina reaches over and grabs the blonde's hand again, this time keeping hold of it. Emma looks at their combined hands and a small smile graces her lips. She squeezes the brunette's hand, drawing strength from the hold and continues on. "He started hitting me if I did something wrong, like, if I got a bad grade or if I was late coming home. About a year ago though he would hit me anytime he was drunk or any time he felt like it really. Most of the time there wasn't a reason. I used to try and justify what he was doing because I could always see a clear reason. But when I couldn't distinguish the reason anymore I gave up."

Tears are now flowing freely down pale cheeks and Emma has to stop her words to take a few deep breaths. She doesn't want to say the next part, doesn't want to speak the words aloud. The blonde glances at Regina's face only to see barely concealed horror. Emma immediately looks back down, unwilling to watch her teachers face transform into something worse for this next part. In a shaky voice she continues. "And… And last week he… he did something he never has before. Something that's never… that no one's…" The blonde now bursts into sobs, her body shaking violently. She leans her head on the counter, her tears immediately pooling on the smooth surface.

Regina releases the blondes' hand and places her hands on her shoulders, guiding the crying girl into her embrace. The brunette wraps her arms around the girls back and once again finds herself holding Emma while she sobs. Emma quickly brings her arms up and circles them around the brunette, pulling her teacher in closer.

Regina begins to rub soothing circles on the blondes back while whispering, "I've got you Emma." over and over. Beginning to relax, Emma loosens her hold on the brunette before fully pulling away and wiping at her eyes. She sniffles and Regina immediately gets up to retrieve a tissue for her. Gratefully Emma takes it and blows her nose, blushing slightly at the noise. Once finished she stands up and walks to the garbage, opening the lid and tossing the used tissue inside. Emma walks back over to the counter but remains standing, finding that she needs her personal space for a few moments.

Regina watches the girl but remains silent, realizing that the blonde needed a moment. She watches as Emma paces the kitchen, mumbling incoherently under her breath. The blonde leans against the wall and slides down it, causing Regina to stand from her chair. Unsure of what to do the brunette takes a few steps toward her student before thinking better of it. She looks down at the blonde one last time before making her way to the oven, checking the status of her lasagna.

As the brunette is opening the door a shrill *ding* goes off, causing the woman to jump slightly. Cursing, she turns the timer off and takes the lasagna from the oven, placing it on the counter. She looks over her shoulder at Emma before cutting pieces for herself and the blonde. Once the food is all ready Regina sets the plates on the counter by the stools and walks over to Emma. She squats down a foot from the girl and whispers, "Emma, dear, you need to eat. The food is ready now."

Emma looks up through her bangs and blinks. The pair stay silent for a moment before Emma nods and slowly stands up. Once Emma is all the way up Regina guides her to the stools and the food. Both women sit down and begin eating, neither one daring to speak another word.


	15. Chapter 15

**AN: So sorry for the delay guys! I've got a job now so my writing time has been severely cut down. Not to mention I'm working on the SQ Big Bang, my novel, the movie I'm writing and the movie I'm acting in. So yeah… writing time has been super hard to find. But it's here now so please**

**READ, **_**REVIEW **_**and **_**ENJOY!**_

"_Get back here girl!" Mark yells at Emma's retreating form. "Bitch I said get back here!" Mark sprints after the blonde and tackles her to the ground. Emma lands with a thud and screams. She pivots her body around and tries furiously to kick the man off of her. _

"_Stop it! Let me go!" Emma screams wildly, still trying to fight the man off. Mark immediately slams his sweaty hand over Emma's mouth, effectively silencing her. The blonde is able to free her left foot and kicks the man in the side. _

"_Fuck! Fuck you bitch!" Mark yells in Emma's face. He grabs her shoulders and slams her further to the floor, releasing a pained gasp from the blonde. Tears now pool around Emma's face and onto the ground as she silently cries, not daring to make any more noise. Mark smirks and places a hand on the girls' waist. Slowly he moves it further down and Emma's eyes widen before she snaps them shut. Mark begins to unbutton Emma's pants and…_

Emma screams and jolts up in bed. She glances at her body and notices her limbs are tangled in a sweaty mess in the sheets. _Oh god it was just a dream. Oh thank god. _New tears begin to join the remnants of the tears from her dream as she sobs and rocks back and forth on the bed.

"Emma."

Emma snaps her head up and scoots back against the wall. With wide eyes she scans the dark room. Her gaze stops on a figure about two feet from the bed and she screams, unable to recognize who it is.

"Get the fuck away from me!"

"Stop it! Let me go!"

Regina's eyes snap open. _Emma_. She's prepared this time. The brunette had gone to bed knowing that Emma would probably cry out in her sleep again. So when the first scream hit her ears she was out of her bed and down the hall just in time to hear the second.

Regina carefully opens the guestroom door and once again is shocked to see the state of her student. The blonde is flailing around on the bed screaming and whimpering and once again Regina's heart breaks. She moves closer to the bed but remembering what had happened last time she stays a safe distance away.

The brunette wants nothing more than to go over and hug the blonde but she remembers the repercussions of that as well. This time Regina stays where she is and calls out softly to the blonde. "Emma."

She watches as Emma's limbs stop flailing and her body shoots up from the bed. She watches as the blonde begins to sob and the brunette takes a step closer. Raising her voice slightly Regina calls out to the girl once more. "Emma." When the blondes head snaps up and she hurriedly moves to the back of the bed Regina realizes that the girl doesn't know who she is. She slowly takes another step closer to the bed. "Emma. It's me. Ms. Mills."

Emma breathes out a sigh of relief and ducks her head in embarrassment. _How many times is she going to see me like this? _

Ms. Mills remains still for a moment before walking over to the bed and sitting down upon it. She stares at the blonde in silence for a while before Emma can't stand it any longer and looks up at the brunette.

"Do you want to talk about it?

"No."

Regina sighs and places a hand on the blonde's knee which causes Emma to duck her head down again and stare at her teacher's hand. In response, the brunette ducks her head down as well and meets the blonde's eyes. She sees the tears there, still flowing down the girls face, but it's not the tears that stop the brunette from insisting. It's the pain in Emma's eyes that stop her. So she simply nods her head and looks back up, remaining silent.

Once the tears have stopped flowing Emma lifts her head up and glances at her teacher who is staring silently at the wall ahead of her. _How did this happen? How did I end up here? I was leaving. I was almost gone._ She shakes her head and lets out a light chuckle. _This is so weird._

Regina turns her head slightly in the blonde's direction and cocks her head, obviously questioning the chuckle. Emma just shakes her head and shrugs her shoulders. "I don't know. I mean, this is so weird."

"What is?"

"You know me, being here, in your house? I'm your student. I probably shouldn't be at your house and I definitely shouldn't be spending the night and waking up crying." Emma chuckles once more and Regina's eyes widen.

"Does it make you uncomfortable to be here?"

"No. It's just… weird." Emma pauses, trying to think of the right words to say. She begins to fiddle with her fingers and she ducks her head down again. "I actually… I feel safe here…" The blonde trails off and blushes.

Regina smiles and pats Emma's knee. "Then it's okay for you to be here, dear."

The blonde looks up suddenly and meets the brunettes gaze. "Why do you do that?"

"Do what, dear?"

"That. Why do you call me dear?"

Regina's eyes widen. "Oh." Slowly she removes her hand from Emma's knee and places it in her own lap. "I'm not really sure."

"Oh. Okay."

A few minutes of awkward silence pass before Regina quietly gets up and exits the room, heading back to her own.

*Beep*

Regina opens her eyes and sighs. Rolling over the brunette glances at the clock, (6:15am), before turning the alarm off and stretching. She yawns as she stands up and she makes her way to the bathroom. Once out the brunette begins getting dressed for work, opting for a pair of black slacks with a blue silk blouse.

Now dressed she makes her way downstairs to make breakfast for herself and Emma. The brunette looks at the clock on the stove, (6:35), and figures she has about fifteen minutes before she would have to wake up the blonde. Regina sets about making two omelets and just as she finishes them she notices that it's time to wake up Emma. The brunette sets the table quickly before heading up the stairs.

Regina knocks on the guestroom door and calls out to her student. "Emma! It's time to get up!" When no response is made after a few seconds Regina sighs and opens the door, expecting to have to shake the blonde awake. She stops dead in her tracks however once she notices that the bed is made and Emma is gone.

Regina backs out of the room quickly and heads to the guest bathroom, assuming the blonde must be there. However once she gets to the bathroom she can see that the light is off and the door is wide open. Beginning to panic Regina calls out loudly. "Emma! Emma are you here?" Her calls echo around her but no other response is forthcoming. Regina sighs and dejectedly walks back downstairs and into the kitchen. The brunette sits down at the table and eats her omelet while staring sadly at the empty chair across from her.

Once Ms. Mills had left the room Emma laid her head back down and tried to go back to sleep. After fifteen minutes of nothing but racing thoughts and now, a headache, Emma sighs and sits up in bed. She swings her legs over the edge and quietly gets dressed. Once fully dressed the blonde sets about making the bed, having only a few issues with the tangled sheets. After the final pillow is in its rightful place Emma sighs and opens the bedroom door. The blonde quietly heads down the stairs, walks to the front door, opens it and exits the house. At the gate Emma looks back sadly before walking down the street into the night.


	16. Chapter 16

**AN: Alright guys since I love y'all so much and since I have three days off this week I decided to update another chapter. Seriously though, thank you guys so much for sticking with me through this crazy thing. Love you all! So please, READ, **_**REVIEW**_** and **_**ENJOY!**_

Emma walks up to the giant building hesitantly and full of anxiety. The blonde stops a few feet short of the glass entryway and glances quickly behind her. _ I could just go home. I could just turn around and leave right now._ Shaking her head and squaring her shoulders Emma marches towards the doors and opens one with a sigh. _I can't stay away forever. _The blonde walks down the hallway with her head bowed, oblivious to her surroundings.

"Young lady watch where you are going!" A voice booms and Emma looks up, startled.

"Oh crap. Mr. Gold I'm… I'm sorry I wasn't looking…" The blonde rambles on as her principal glares down at her.

"Obviously you were not looking Miss Swan. If you had you would have seen that you were about to run right into me." Mr. Gold looks down curiously at the blonde for a moment before his eyes widen slightly and a smirk plays at the corner of his mouth. "Ah, Miss Swan. I do recall giving you detention for a month. I also recall that you have yet to attend said detention. Seeing as you can't pay attention nor can you show up where you're supposed to be I'm just going to have to extend your punishment."

"But…" Emma starts as her eyes widen.

"No. No buts Miss Swan. I expect you to be in detention after school tonight. I will be checking in on you." With that the older man turns on his heel and continues to limp down the hallway, his cane slamming on the floor with his finality.

Emma hangs her head and sighs. _Yup. Should've just stayed away. _

The lunch bell rings and Emma sighs in relief. The blonde packs up her supplies quickly and runs out the door into the hallway. She shoves her way through mingling bodies and rushes into the cafeteria. _Oh god food. _Not having eaten since the lasagna at Regina's the night before the blonde piles her tray high with food and rushes to her usual seat. She's in the middle of shoving food down her throat when a soft voice catches her attention.

"Hi." Ruby has her own tray in her hands and stands awkwardly at the table, waiting for the blonde to yell and tell her to go away again.

"Hi." Emma mumbles back. Ruby's eyes widen slightly and Emma chuckles before motioning for the brunette to sit down. "It's okay Rubes."

The brunette quickly takes her seat and sets her tray down, meeting Emma's eyes. "I'm so sorry Em."

Emma sighs and looks down at her plate before renewing eye contact with her friend. "No Rubes. I'm sorry. I was a bitch and you were only trying to help." At this Ruby nods her head vigorously and Emma laughs. "Seriously though Ruby, I know I've been a shit friend lately and all you've done is try to help. So… I'm sorry. I really am."

The brunette's face splits into a grin and a few stray tears make their way down her pale cheeks. "Oh thank god Em. I honestly didn't know what to do without you. And I was just so worried about you I felt I needed to do something to help. I know I might have come off strong but that's only because I care about you."

Emma wipes at her eyes where her own stray tears have fallen before getting up and walking over to Ruby and wrapping her in a tight embrace. "I know that Rubes. I care about you too and I am so sorry I've been so bitchy."

The brunette squeezes the blonde back for a moment before pulling away. The girls share a smile and sit back in their seats.

"So… Did you hear about the new chick Belle?" Ruby questions with raised eyebrows. Emma barks out a laugh, thanking the gods that she has her friend back.

The bell signaling the start of the final period rings high over Emma's head as she stands in the bathroom. _Just go in there. Who cares if she's seen you cry more times than anyone ever has? But now I would be late. I couldn't just sneak in. Everyone will know I'm there. She will know. You can't miss anymore class! I can't do it!_

The war rages on in Emma's head for several minutes. Finally snapping back to reality the blonde checks the clock on the wall. _Well shit. Can't go in now. I'd be twenty minutes late. There's no point._ She sighs and slides down the wall, holding her backpack to her chest. She rests her head on top of the bag and quickly falls asleep.

*Ding* *Ding* *Ding*

Emma's head snaps up and she groans. She clasps her hand to the back of her neck and massages the sore muscles. "That's the last time I sleep like that." The blonde grumbles, standing up and stretching. She glances at the clock and sighs. _Great. Time for detention. _Heaving her backpack off the ground and exiting the bathroom the blonde trudges towards the detention room, mumbling curses under her breath as she goes.

The bell rings and Regina looks at all the faces of her students before frowning. _She isn't here. Did she leave again?_ Sighing the brunette begins her class, glancing at the closed door every few minutes expecting a blonde head to come waltzing through it. After the first twenty minutes however, Regina is sure Emma wasn't coming to class. With a shake of her head she instructs her present students to begin popcorn reading so she can let her mind wander.

_What if she left again? Should I try and find her again? _Regina shakes her head. _No. I can't. I can't force her to stay any more than I can force her to talk to me. _She sighs loudly and a few heads pop up in question. The brunette glares at them and motions for them to continue. She listens to the kids for only a few seconds before her mind wanders again.

*Ding* *Ding* *Ding*

Regina jumps in her seat and glares at the speakers overhead. Her students stare at her curiously before shrugging and pushing their way out the door, anxious to leave school and hang out with their friends. The brunette sighs and gently bangs her head on her desk before packing her own things and exiting the classroom.

Emma walks into the detention room a second before the bell rings and glances around. Ten students are there, two of which Emma knows by name but she's seen the other seven around. She glances at the desk up front, the one meant for whatever teacher got wrapped into detention duty this month, and smirks at the empty chair.

_Oh sure we get in trouble for being late but not the teacher huh? Of fucking course._ Rolling her eyes the blonde sits in a seat furthest from the other kids who have grouped together and were talking loudly. She places her head on her desk and tries to tune the kids out.

"What are you here for Killian?" A blonde boy asks loudly. Emma tries to plug her ears.

"I stole my teacher's whiskey." Killian laughs and Emma cringes. _God boys are so stupid._

"Well I stole money from my rich ass teacher. What does she need it for anyways? I'm the one that needs it!" The boy that Emma knew as Robin yells back.

The blonde smacks her hand into her forehead and groans in frustration, causing the boys to go silent and stare at her. If they were going to say anything to her Emma didn't hear it because just at that moment the classroom door opened and a very distinct, *Click* *Click* *Click* could be heard.

Emma's eyes widen. _No. No fucking way. _She snaps her head up just in time to catch Miss Mills' face before the brunette turns her back to the class to write on the white board. _No no no. _Hurriedly Emma places her head back on the desk in an effort to hide her face from her teacher.

The blonde is just about to declare herself safe when the brunette's voice rings out loudly in the silent room. "Alright. I will begin roll call to ensure everyone who needs to be here is here and then I will go over the rules of detention for those of you who do not know them."

Emma groans inwardly. _Oh god roll call. Oh god she's going to know I'm here._

"Killian Jones?" Miss Mills reads from a list in her hand.

"Here." Killian grumbles and the brunette nods at him and checks him off the list.

"Robin Hood?"

"Here."

"Em…" The room goes silent and Emma holds her breath. She keeps her head on her desk and places her arms over it.

*Click* *Click* *Click*

Someone taps on the blondes shoulder and she knows exactly who it is. She shakes her head and remains where she is. Another tap, this one more insistent, has Emma sighing and slowly lifting her head from her desk. The blonde's eyes lock onto the glaring ones of the brunettes.

"Emma Swan." Miss Mills breaks the silence making Emma cringe.

"H..Here." The blonde answers weakly.

The brunette stares at her for a moment more before heading up to the front of the room and finishing roll call. Emma lies her head back down on her desk but quickly snaps it up at the sound of her name.

"Miss Swan. I would like you to stay after detention for a moment so I may speak with you." Miss Mills says nonchalantly with her back to the class.

Emma groans and slams her head on her desk, eliciting snickers from around the room.


	17. Chapter 17

**AN: Hey guys! Here is a ridiculously long chapter (well, long for me) for you guys to enjoy! I'm hope you like it and please**

**READ, **_**REVIEW**_** and **_**ENJOY**_**!**

"_Miss Swan. I would like you to stay after detention for a moment so I may speak with you."_

Emma remains seated at her desk, head still resting atop it, as her classmates file out of the room. She groans inwardly once the room is silent, dreading the conversation she knows is coming.

*click* *click* *click*

This time the groan escapes the blonde's lips as her teacher nears her desk.

"Really, Emma?" Regina sighs as she takes a seat at a desk beside the girl. Emma keeps her head down, squeezing her eyes shut. "Emma, Look at me. Please." The brunette reaches a hand over and places it gently on the blonde's arm.

Emma takes a deep breath and slowly lifts her head up, staring at the wall in front of the pair. "Are you mad?"

The brunette squeezes Emma's arm gently before pulling away and sighing. "Not mad, no. Confused and frustrated yes."

Turning her head slowly Emma faces her teacher and grimaces. "I'm sorry." She whispers, ducking her head. "I just… I couldn't sleep and I…" She trails off, glancing back at the brunette.

"Were you uncomfortable staying at my house? Is that why you left the first time as well?" Regina tilts her head, curious.

"No, it wasn't that. I just…" The blonde sighs and mentally berates herself for being unable to get the words out. "When you left I couldn't sleep and I needed to get away…"

Regina's face falls momentarily before she schools her features. "I'm sorry you felt like you needed to get away from my house dear."

At that Emma snaps her head up and makes eye contact with the brunette. "No! It's not… I didn't…" She growls in frustration. "It wasn't because of that I promise."

"Would you like to talk about why then?"

Emma's eyes widen and she furtively shakes her head. "Not… not yet."

Regina stares at the blonde a moment longer before nodding. "May I ask where you're staying tonight?"

The blonde looks down sheepishly. "I'm not sure. Probably my car." She mumbles with a shrug.

Concern slides across the brunette's face. "Emma…"

A single tear streaks down the blonde's pale cheek as she looks back at her teacher. "Don't. Just… I'll be okay." She looks away again, wiping angrily at her cheek.

Standing from the desk, Regina moves in front of the still sitting blonde and places a hand on her shoulder. "Emma I know you will be okay. I'm well aware this wouldn't be the first time you stayed in your car but I'm still worried…" Trailing off she shakes her head, releasing her hand from the girls shoulder.

"I know." Emma whispers.

"I know you don't want to go home, and believe me I will _never_ make you go back there, but I still want you to be somewhere safe." She squats down, making herself eye level with her student, before continuing. "You're my student Emma and I want to know that you're okay. It may not be appropriate to have you stay at my house but I imagine it is far less appropriate to leave you out on the streets. Not if I can help in some way."

Conflicted, Emma stares past her teacher in thought. "I guess… I guess I could stay at your place again. Only because you're worried though. I don't… I don't want you to worry about me." Refocusing her gaze, she smiles sadly at the brunette in front of her.

Smiling back Regina nods and stands up fully, looking down at the younger woman. "Thank you Emma."

The blonde responds with a nod and stands up as well, collecting her things as she does so. "So… Are you driving? Or should I take my own car?"

"We'll take mine."

Regina closes the door to her house and turns to face the blonde, who is standing awkwardly in the hallway. The brunette smiles at the girl, moving past her into the kitchen. Emma slowly turns and follows her teacher, keeping her eyes trained on the ground in front of her.

"Are you hungry dear?" The older woman turns to Emma just as the blonde trails into the kitchen.

"Uh… Yeah…" Emma whispers, slightly uncomfortable.

Regina shakes her head and chuckles. "What would you like to eat?"

The blonde stares, incredulous, at the offer. The question was such an anomaly. She had never been asked, in all her previous homes, what she had wanted. They had always given her what they deemed she deserved. Which wasn't much. She couldn't believe it had taken this long to find a person who cared enough to ask her opinion of the food she wanted to eat. Blushing at her continued staring, she shuffles her feet, looking at the floor.

Regina watches the blonde's actions curiously, tilting her head to the side. "Emma?"

Emma snaps her head up to stare into chocolate brown eyes, her blush deepening. "Yeah?"

"What are you thinking dear?" The older woman questions, moving closer to the distressed blonde.

Emma leans back against the wall, looking back at the floor and sighs. "It's just… It's silly."

"Your feelings aren't silly Emma." Regina moves to stand in front of the younger woman, placing her finger under the pale chin and lifting her face back to eye level. "You can tell me, I won't make fun of you. I'm only trying to help you."

"I know." Emma whispers, looking away from Regina's piercing gaze. "It's just weird, I guess."

"What's weird dear?"

"You asking what I want to eat. That's… Well it's been a long time since anyone has cared enough to ask." Green eyes meet brown for a moment before Emma fixes her gaze elsewhere.

Regina opens her mouth but words escape her. She stares at the girl before her in stunned silence. Finally finding her voice, the brunette clears her throat, eyes starting to fill with tears. "Oh Emma." She leans forward, capturing the younger woman in a tight embrace. "As long as you are in my house you may have whatever you want."

Emma wipes away stray tears as she leans into the older woman's arms. "Thank you." She chokes out, voice cracking.

"You're welcome." Extracting her arms from the blonde, Regina meets her gaze once more, smiling softly. "So what would you like to eat?"

Chuckling, Emma thinks for a moment before her eyes widen in delight. "Grilled cheese sandwiches."

The brunette lets out a hearty laugh. "Of course dear. Let's make us some grilled cheese sandwiches."

Emma plops down on the couch and watches as Regina flits around the living room, gathering blankets and remotes. "So what are we watching?"

Regina deposits the blankets onto the couch beside the blonde, glancing in her direction. "What would you like to watch?"

"Anything besides a chick flick." Emma deadpans.

Feigning offense the brunette grasps her chest. "And what, pray tell, is wrong with chick flicks?"

Emma scrunches her face up before giggling. "Everything!"

Regina grumbles before laughing along with the blonde. "Alright then, no chick flicks."

A goofy grin takes over the blondes face and Regina laughs again before plopping down on the opposite side of the couch. She turns the T.V on and turns the channel to 'On Demand'. "So, besides chick flicks, what are you in the mood to watch?"

Emma lays all the way down on the couch and snuggles beneath a blanket, replying with a grin. "Horror!"

Surprised, Regina turns to stare into green eyes. "Horror? Are you sure?"

The blonde nods quickly, snuggling further into the blanket. "Yeah. I love scary movies." She notices the expression on the brunette's face, it's a mix of curiosity and fear. "Wait, are you scared?"

"No." Is the brunette's hasty reply.

"Liar!" Emma laughs, playfully kicking the brunette's thigh.

"Hey!" Regina chuckles and swats at the girls flying limbs. "I am not a liar. And stop kicking me." She grins at the blonde, conveying that she's not truly angry.

Emma giggles and mumbles under her breath, "Liar."

Rolling her eyes, the brunette turns back to the T.V in search of a suitable movie. She scrolls through the list of movies for a few minutes before a muffled, "Hey!" comes from the spot beside her. Turning to the owner of the voice she tilts her head in question.

"That one! Let's watch that one!" The voice is clearer now that the blonde has emerged from her blanket cocoon.

Regina scrunches her face in disgust upon reading the girl's title of choice. "Carrie? Really Emma?" The vigorous shaking of blonde hair confirms the selection, causing Regina to sigh in defeat as she clicks play on the screen. Settling back against the couch the brunette glances and the blonde, who has re-buried herself in blankets, before facing the screen with a soft smile.

Regina stares at the screen with mild disgust as the young girl Carrie bleeds in the bathroom, crying for help. She's so engrossed in the movie that she barely hears the soft whimper from the space beside her. The brunette glances to her right, where if it was light, she would see the blonde. However the room is dark, making it difficult for the woman to see the girl on the couch with her. Listening carefully she here's another whimper, this one slightly louder. Turning her body, she faces the blonde before grabbing the remote and pausing the movie. "Emma?"

A blonde head pops up in answer. "Y...yeah?"

"Are you okay?"

"What? Oh, yeah. Yeah I'm fine." She lays her head back on the couch, signifying an end to the conversation.

Regina looks on in concern for a moment before re-facing the T.V, filing away the blonde's odd behavior and pressing play. The pair watch in silence, with the occasional gasp from Regina followed by an amused chuckle from Emma.

Regina tucks her feet beneath her thighs, placing the blonde's feet over her lap to find as much comfort as she can. Surprisingly, the girl doesn't object and the brunette smiles to herself before refocusing her attention on the movie.

The brunette watches, entranced, as Carrie sacrifices herself to rid the world of her controlling mother. She squeezes her eyes shut and thinks of how many times she had wished she could do the same to her own mother. _Well, maybe not exactly the same way._

She still has her eyes closed when she feels movement in her lap. Snapping her eyes open, Regina looks down at the feet which are moving wildly on her thighs. She turns her head to the blonde who is now writhing beneath the blankets. "Emma?" When no response is given her face morphs from mild concern to worry.

Regina turns her body completely to face the blonde and reaches over, carefully shaking the girl's shoulders. "Emma, honey, wake up. It's only a dream." The blonde's eyes snap open and she lets out a pitiful wail. "Hey. Hey, it's okay. I'm here. You're safe dear."

"Regina?" Emma mumbles, voice filled with sleep.

"Yes Emma. It's only me." The brunette leans back on the couch, legs now completely tangled with the blonde's. Looking down at the mass of limbs she blushes, hoping the dark will hide her reddening cheeks, before untangling herself and standing from the couch. She moves in front of Emma, who has now sat all the way up, and crouches down. Brown eyes lock onto blue as Regina places her hand on top of the pale one that has yet to stop shaking. "What's wrong?"

A few tears stream down Emma's face and she shakes her head. "It was just a nightmare. I'm okay now." _With you. _The blonde thinks before quickly pushing that thought from her mind.

"Emma…" Regina starts hesitantly. "How often do you have these nightmares? Each time you have slept over you have woken up screaming."

Emma quickly looks down, ashamed. "I'm sorry you had to see that."

With widening eyes Regina shakes her head and pulls the blonde in for a hug, murmuring in her ear. "Don't apologize Emma. Don't ever apologize for when you're afraid. I will always be here to help you."

Emma clenches her eyes shut, leaning farther into the embrace. She catches a whiff of Regina's hair. _Apples? _She muses, chuckling softly to herself. _Somehow, it suits her_. With that thought, she allows the smell to overcome her and sighs, relaxing into the older woman's arms.

"Thank you." She whispers back. The blonde then takes a deep breath before removing herself from the brunette. "And I um… I get them often."

"How often is often?"

Emma looks down at her hands and whispers. "Every night."

"Oh Emma, I'm so sorry." The brunette moves to lean in for another hug but is stopped abruptly by a pale arm.

"Mi — Regina." Emma grits out. "I get that you're all for helping me and stuff, and I'm thankful I really am, but you need to stop saying you're sorry. I don't want your pity okay?" She stands up now, body fueled by rage that may or may not have anything to do with the woman still crouching on the ground in front of her. Pacing, Emma begins grumbling beneath her breath, clenching her fists at her sides.

Regina's eyes widen and she mentally berates herself._ I should know that. I've felt just as she has before. _She breathes in deeply, slowly standing up from the floor. "Emma, I do _not _do pity. What you're seeing is not sympathy. It's empathy. I've been where you are. I've had nightmares much like yours dear. I was only apologizing because I _understand_. I know what it feels like; being too terrified to close your eyes at night."

Emma stops her pacing and catches the brunette's eyes. In the darkness she can barely see the woman's expression, however she can tell that her words are sincere. She hangs her head shamefully, before walking to the couch and plopping back down, sighing dejectedly. "I know. I don't know why I keep snapping at you. You're the only one who cares and I just… I keep pushing you away and I'm sorry."

"It's alright Emma. I know it's hard to let people in, I do. I'm trying really hard not to push you into sharing too much, but I also need to know some things in order to help you..." She's interrupted by soft sobs and sighing, she takes a seat beside the blonde, offering comfort if the girl wants it.

Emma leans her head against the brunette's shoulder and cries. Regina lets her cry in silence, only placing her hand gently on the girl's knee. After several minutes the sobs turn into quiet sniffles and the brunette pats the blonde's leg slightly before removing her hand. Facing the blonde she whispers, "I think it's probably time for some sleep Emma. We both have school tomorrow."

At that Emma groans, causing Regina to chuckle lightly, until she sees the blonde's expression. "Don't want to sleep?" When the girl shakes her head in the negative the brunette sighs. "Would it make you feel better if we slept, together?"

With wide eyes and a gaping mouth the blonde stares at her teacher in mild horror. "Like, in the same...the same...bed?" She stutters out, blushing.

Regina only smiles thinking, _what the hell, I've already broken school rules by bringing her to my house. Might as well share a bed with her._ She chuckles before standing, beckoning the blonde to follow. "Yes, Emma. In the same bed. That way I can be right there if you have any more nightmares." She stops in her tracks at the look on Emma's face and the fact that the girl had yet to stand from the couch. "Oh, god. I apologize, would that make you uncomfortable?"

Shaking her head to clear it, Emma stands from the couch, walking up to the older woman. "No… uh... No it's okay. Thank you." She smiles sheepishly, meeting Regina's eyes. The brunette nods at Emma with a smile and turns back around, heading towards the stairs, and her room. Smiling softly, the blonde trails behind, wondering how on earth she got to meet such an amazing person.


	18. Chapter 18

"No! Stop it! Let me go!" Regina jerks awake, eyes blinking in confusion. The room is dark and the only sound is the terrified screams from the squirming body beside her. Bewildered, the brunette shoots up and stares at the pale limbs of the person occupying her bed. Upon seeing blonde hair Regina sighs out in relief, remembering the invitation she had given the girl to sleep in her bed the night before. Soon though, the relief that she held dissipates as she realizes that Emma is having another nightmare. Cautiously Regina moves closer to the blonde, careful to avoid flying legs. "Emma." She coos softly, placing her palm against the younger girl's shoulder. "Emma wake up." She says this louder, gently shaking the girls arm.

Green eyes snap open and Emma quickly sits up. With wide terrified eyes, the blonde scans the room until her eyes find Reginas and she breathes out a relieved sigh. "Regina." She whispers.

Tears begin rolling down pale cheeks as Regina immediately takes the girl into her arms, rocking her back and forth. "Shh. Emma it's okay. You're okay. I've got you." Emma buries her head in the crook of Regina's neck, breathing in the scent of her dark hair. She visibly relaxes and then pulls away.

"I'm sorry." Emma mumbles out, wiping at her eyes.

"There's absolutely no reason for you to be sorry dear." The brunette leans forward, using her own hands to wipe away the stray tears that the blonde had missed.

"But I woke you up." Sweat soaked hair covers Emma's face as she looks at her hands.

Following the blondes eyesight Regina places her own hand within one of Emma's, stroking the back of it with her thumb. "Emma, look at me please." Green eyes slowly meet brown and the brunette smiles. "Please don't feel the need to apologize for your nightmares Emma. I specifically asked you to sleep in here so I could help you get through them. You are not a burden dear."

Upon hearing those words Emma's eyes quickly begin to fill once more. "No one… No ones ever said that."

"That you're not a burden?" The brunette quietly asks; head tilting slightly.

"Yeah. I mean, I've always been told I _was_ a burden. My foster parents, all of them, explicitly told me that I was. It's… It's really nice to hear someone say that I'm not." Emma smiles sheepishly at Regina; tears now steadily flowing down her face.

"Well your foster parents are all idiots." Regina mutters. A smile spreads across her face as a loud laugh escapes the blondes throat.

"That actually makes me feel better, thank you." She smiles back at the brunette before the intense gaze the other woman is giving her begins to be too much. She refocuses her gaze on the wall opposite her.

Confused by the sudden loss of eye-contact, Regina frowns. She shakes her head to clear it; keeping her focus on the side of the blonde's face. "So would you like to talk about your dream?"

Emma snaps her eyes back on to her teachers face with a look of horror. "Um."

"It's okay Emma, you don't have to."

"No, I know that, Just… Just give me a moment okay?"

"Take as long as you need dear." Regina squeezes the blondes hand gently, offering her comfort. Several moments pass as the brunette studies Emma's expression; which grows darker by the second. Finally she hears a deep sigh escape the girls throat and the brunette moves closer to her, waiting patiently for her to begin talking.

"It's… It's the same dream every time…" Emma eyes the brunette for a moment and Regina motions for her to continue. Taking a deep breath the blonde goes on. "It's about Mark. What he… What he did to me…" Tears stream down once more and Regina moves to take the girl into her embrace. Leaning into Regina, Emma smiles softly. "The dream always starts off the same. I'm laying in bed, almost asleep, when Mark barges into my room, forces me onto the bed and… and he…" Sobs escape once again and Emma buries her head into Regina's neck. Immediately Regina brings her hand that isn't holding the blonde up and begins stroking blonde hair.

"I'm here Emma. I'm right here. You're okay. You don't have to say it I understand." She hugs the girl tightly in her arms as Emma sobs uncontrollably.

After a while the blondes sobs quiet, though she remains in the brunette's safe embrace. "You know," Regina starts, moving her body slightly to face Emma. "I know how you feel. The same happened to me when I was about your age." She whispers this, holding eye contact with the girl in her arms.

Shocked, Emma sits up quickly, causing Regina to miss her warmth immediately. "It did?"

"Yes."

"How old were you?"

"I had just turned 18."

Suddenly Emma becomes angry, leaving the brunette slightly confused. "Who? Who did that to you?" She spits the words out, fists clenching. Regina's jaw drops and she stares silently at the blonde for a moment.

"Why are you so angry Emma?" Again, she's whispering; desperately trying to understand this sudden change in the blonde.

"Because! You're so nice. You would never hurt anyone! You don't deserve that. Why the fuck would someone do that?"

Regina's eyes widen. "You think _you_ did?"

**AN: I'M SO SORRY THIS HAS TAKEN ME SO LONG GUYS. I've had family stuff happen, work stuff and the movie I'm in has taken up most of my time. I promise it won't be this long for the next update though. Anyways, please READ,**_**REVIEW**_**and**_**ENJOY!**_

**_p.s thanks to my lovely sister annalyticalowl for beta-ing this chapter!_**

Emma slowly faces the brunette, who has now moved slightly farther behind her on the bed. "I don't know." She whispers. "My own parent's gave me up. They didn't love me so I must have deserved it."

Tears begin slipping down the brunette's face now, she had tried so hard to contain her own emotions in front of the blonde. "Emma, just because your parents gave you up… It doesn't… It doesn't mean you deserve this. It doesn't mean they don't love you." Her voice breaks, causing her to turn from Emma's searching gaze.

"Regina… Regina why does this sound like it isn't completely about me anymore?" She moves directly in front of the brunette, catching her eye. Emma's shocked by what she sees in those chocolate eyes. Sorrow. Despair. She can see that in runs deep. The blonde reaches a hand out, placing it on the side of the brunette's face, stroking her thumb gently over the tear stained flesh. "Regina, talk to me… please. What's going on right now?"

"I love him. I swear I do." Sobs wrack the brunette's body, causing her to shake slightly.

"What?! The dude that… that _raped_ you?" She winces as she says the word, fear and anger still bound by the mere thought.

Regina barks out a humorless laugh. "Of course not."

"Then who Regina?"

"My son." She states this quietly, eyes focusing somewhere in the past.

"You're… You have a son?" The blondes eyes are wide, her jaw slack, as she searches the brunette's face once more.

Regina leans her head into her hands and sobs. "Yes. Yes I have a son."

A pale hand moves to stroke brunette hair as Emma whispers, "What's his name? Where is he?"

Regina surges forward into the blondes arms, causing Emma to jump slightly before bringing her arms around the older woman. She rests her head on dark hair, pulling her teacher closer. "His name is Henry and he's gone."


	19. Chapter 19

**AN: Thank you all so much for sticking with my story, it truly means so much to me. We are now actually going places with this fic so everyone buck up and READ, **_**REVIEW, **__**ENJOY!**_

"_His name is Henry and he's gone."_

Emma's eyes widen and her jaw drops before she catches herself, snapping her mouth closed. She stares in silence at the crying brunette for a moment, rooted in place by uncertainty. The blonde shakes her head, clearing her thoughts. Quickly she moves to the older woman's side, embracing Regina's shaking body tightly. Emma has so many questions that she wants to ask but she holds her tongue, knowing Regina needed to cry it out first.

The once incessant shakes beneath pale arms slowly come to a halt as the brunette sits up, wiping her eyes. _She looks so broken._ Emma murmurs in her head. _Like me._ This last thought shocks her, causing her grip on the older woman to tighten, hugging her close to her chest. Regina hugs Emma back just as fierce, burying her head in blonde hair for a moment before pulling away. Remaining in the girls arms, she meets green eyes with a sad smile.

"Thank you." Regina whispers.

Blushing, Emma looks down and shrugs. "I didn't really do anything."

"You're here. Sometimes, that's enough."

"I'm only here because you were helping me."

"I know, but you stayed and helped me even when you yourself were breaking." As the brunette says this she meets the blondes' eyes with a smile, tucking an errant strand of hair behind the girls' ear. For a moment Emma leans into the gentle movement, momentarily closing her eyes before she blushes and quickly pulls back. Awkwardly she releases Regina from her hold, scooting back a bit before once again meeting chocolate eyes.

"So," Emma pauses, looking down. "Do you want to talk about him?"

A shudder passes through Regina's' body but she quickly shakes it away. She stays silent for several moments, so long so, that Emma wonders if she won't reply at all. However, after a few deep breaths the brunette focuses her gaze somewhere in the past and begins speaking, barely above a whisper.

"When I was twenty, I fell in love with a man named Daniel. We were planning on getting married, then I found out I was pregnant…" A few tears roll down tan cheeks but the brunette goes unfazed, stuck in a memory Emma couldn't see. "He was so excited, we both were." She lets out a sad laugh and Emma's heart clenches, afraid to hear the rest of the story. "One day, I was around six months pregnant, Daniel went to the market; I had the strangest craving for pineapple and cinnamon so he went to get some for me. He never made it back." Sobs quickly overtake Regina for a moment and Emma grabs her hand gently. They share a heartbreaking smile before the brunette continues. "It was a car crash. Some idiot decided to drive drunk and he hit Daniels' car. The paramedics said he died instantly. At least he didn't suffer." Her cries are full force now, making it impossible for Regina to tell anymore of the story.

"I'm so, so sorry Regina." Emma whispers, her own tears returning. Slowly the blonde moves in front of the older woman, wrapping Regina in her arms so tightly that the brunette ends up practically in her lap. Emma rests her head atop raven hair and rubs the woman's back in comforting circles. Minutes tick by like this, both women holding each other, like if they let go they might drown. Sniffling Regina loosens her grip on the girl, dropping her hands into her lap, before wiping her eyes and staring at her clenched fists.

"I was devastated. My whole world came crashing down around me and there was nothing I could do to stop it. I couldn't eat. I couldn't sleep. I was angry at everyone and everything. Then Henry was born." A soft smile graces red lips. "He was so beautiful. He looked just like Daniel. For the first year that I had him it was amazing. He was amazing. But then he started growing, and he… he looked so much like Daniel. I became lost in depression. I shut everyone out. Including...Including Henry. Finally my mother had had enough and she sued for custody." Regina chokes on her words, clenching her fists so tightly skin broke and crimson blood bloomed on her palms. Noticing this, Emma reached for the brunette's hands, forcing the woman to release her piercing grip. Gently she clasped both of the woman's hands, holding tight. "She won the case and took my son from me. I haven't… I haven't seen them since."

"Regina..." Emma whispers sadly, bringing the brunette in for another crushing hug. "I can't even imagine how horrible that must have been. I'm so sorry."

Regina says nothing more, only gripping Emma tighter, releasing five years of pent up agony. They fall asleep like this, in each other's arms, tear stains tracking both women's cheeks.

Regina cracks open her eyes and groans, snapping her eyes shut quickly. Her body feels sore and a headache is threatening to overcome her. Something tickles her nose and she scrunches up her face trying to get rid of the feeling. When the sensation remains the brunette swats at her nose, fingers coming into contact with what felt like hair. _Hair?_ Brown eyes snap open and a quiet gasp escapes Regina's lips.

Emma is lying beside her, blonde hair curtained over both women's faces. The girl has an arm thrown loosely around the brunette's waist. Regina's eyes widen as sleep quickly evades her brain and feeling returns to her body. She can feel the blondes legs tangled with her own and she lets out a frustrated, yet soft, groan. Her mind begins racing, though she does not pull away from the girl who is holding her; she doesn't move at all, not wanting to wake the girl up. _Oh god. What am I doing? She's my student. Oh god. This is completely inappropriate. _When she begins to feel soft puffs of breath on her face her body freezes, the only thing moving is her racing heart. She closes her eyes for a moment, allowing herself to memorize this feeling, if only for a minute.

A quiet groan escapes the lips of the girl beside her and Regina's heart rate picks up speed. She remains completely still, eyes trained on Emma's' face.

"Wha…" Emma mumbles and opens her eyes slowly. Green eyes meet brown, causing Emma's eyes to widen significantly. The blonde glances down the length of their bodies and a deep blush overtakes her pale complexion. Hesitantly she meets the brunette's eyes once more. "Um, hi."

Regina lets out a bark of laughter, unable to comprehend how she had managed to end up in this ridiculous situation. "Hello." She murmurs back quietly, once her laughter subsides. She reaches up to remove blonde hair from their faces, hand stilling as she brushes the soft skin of Emma's cheek, heart beating loudly.

Emma's eyes widen further and her gaze drifts to the brunette's lips before slowly tracking them back up to the older woman's eyes. Her breath hitches as Regina does the same. She can feel her heart pounding beneath her ribcage as the staring match continues. She watches, transfixed, as Regina leans in slightly. Emma is about to close the gap between them when a blaring noise pierces the silent room. The spell breaks as both women jump apart, tearing their gaze away from the other in search of the noises' location. Emma fumbled a bit, having the most trouble untangling her limbs from the other woman's'.

Realizing it's the alarm clock, Regina awkwardly removes herself fully from the blonde, rolling over to silence the glaring noise. She sits up, combing fingers through her hair in a mix of embarrassment and frustration. _I almost kissed her. I shouldn't be doing this._ Without a word the brunette vacates the bed where the blonde now sat looking at her hands and heads to the bathroom, closing the door firmly behind her.

As soon as the bathroom door closes Emma lets out a whispered stream of curses before climbing out of Regina's bed. _What the fuck. What the fuck are you doing Swan? Since when do you like girls? Since when do you like __**teachers**__? _Emma shakes her head in confusion before striding to the bedroom door, glancing at the room one last time before opening the door and closing it quietly behind her.

Inside the bathroom, Regina splashes cold water on her face, trying to rid herself of the mess of emotions swirling around her gut. Sighing, the brunette slams her hands down and grips the edges of the sink tightly. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" She questions the reflection in the mirror. No reply comes and Regina closes her eyes tightly. Leaning forward she rests her head on the cool glass, breathing deeply.

After a few minutes, Regina lifts her head from the glass and shakes it in exasperation. Looking into the mirror again, she fixes her rumpled hair before turning and opening the bathroom door. Her face falls once she steps into her room, noticing the absent blonde. "Oh god what did I do?" She stares at the chaotic state of her bed before sighing. "I really hope I didn't just completely screw everything up."


	20. Chapter 20

**AN: I know I said this wouldn't happen again but some things have happened. Apparently I now have an art business and it has taken off. (Seriously, I had no idea I had a 'business') I've had drawing orders come in up to my ears. And then work and acting so, lots of stuff y'all. Anyways I want to give a HUGE thanks to insanemagician for catching my Muse for me after it escaped. I could not have wrote this without her. So, thank you bunny. **

**Anyways, enough of my blabbering. Y'all please READ, **_**REVIEW**_** and **_**ENJOY!**_

Emma pushes open the double doors of the school and shuffles inside anxiously. She's heading down the main hallway, eyes downcast, when she stops abruptly. She quiets her breathing, trying to hear the whispered shouts from the closed door to her left.

"No! I will —"

"Emma needs —"

"Why should she —"

At the sound of her name, Emma's eyes widen. She scoots closer to the door, mindful of her footfalls.

"You don't get to decide that!"

"Sir, I really think —"

"Fine. Do whatever you want!"

The door suddenly flies open and Emma lets out a squeal as she quickly backpedals into the hallway.

"Well look who it is." Mr. Gold sneers once he's caught sight of the startled blonde. "Were you eavesdropping, dearie?"

Emma shakes her head in the negative, eyes still wide with shock at being caught. She's saved from whatever biting retort her principal might have made as Archie, the school counselor, steps into the hallway.

"Ah, Miss Swan. We were just talking about you. Will you come into my office please?" The counselor slides his glasses back onto the bridge of his nose before pointing back to the door from which they had come.

"Uh… I really should… I should go to class." The blonde stutters out, looking back and forth between the two men. Mr. Gold rolls his eyes before turning and walking down the hallway towards his office. The two watch the man limp off before Archie meets Emma's eyes with raised brows.

"Okay, just for a minute though. I don't want to be late for class. I already have detention for a month." Emma sighs out before reluctantly following the man into his office.

Regina sighs as the bell rings, signaling the start of her first class. She glances at her students briefly before turning to the whiteboard, unable to hide her overflowing emotions just yet. She writes the days' lesson on auto-pilot, her brain completely elsewhere, before schooling her expression and re-facing the students.

"Alright class, today I want you to write about someone you miss. You have fifteen minutes, starting..." The brunette glances at the clock in order to remember when her students had started before facing them once more. "Now."

Regina watches as every head ducks down and pencils begin moving furiously. She lets a small smirk encase her lips for a moment as she watches her students work, remembering when they had thought this would be an easy class. _At least they catch on quick. _She muses as she sits down behind her desk.

Five minutes pass, the only sound heard are the pencils scribbling across paper. Regina squeezes her eyes shut, trying to block out the noise. She realizes however, what a bad idea that was when the noise inside her head escalates and the scratching of lead dies down.

_What are you doing Regina? _The brunette berates herself. _She's your student. You were going to kiss her. I was not! Great, now I'm arguing with myself. _Regina shakes her head and opens her eyes. She can feel a blush creep up as her eyes meet those of her confused students, who are staring right at her. She shifts her eyes towards the clock and groans, twenty-five minutes had passed while she was trying to quiet her thoughts.

Clearing her throat, Regina pushes the heated blush away and begins addressing the class. _Today is going to be a long day._

"So Emma, Dr. Whale called me yesterday and told me what happened." Archie ventures, looking over the top of his glasses.

Emma, who was previously seated on the edge of the small black couch, jumps to her feet in outrage. "He talked to you?! Isn't that, like, against client confidentiality or some shit? He can't do that!" The blonde begins to pace angrily in front of the still seated man.

"Emma, he didn't give any details. He just said that you might need to talk. I only know parts of what happened that night." Archie replies calmly, eyes tracking the blondes furious movements. He begins to write on his clipboard, causing Emma to swing her body around to face him fully.

"What, are you taking notes?! What did you just write, 'Patient is rightfully angry?'" The blonde uses air quotes before rolling her eyes at the man, who remains calm. "God what don't you people understand about privacy?!" She lets out a huff and resumes her pacing.

"Emma, I'm only trying…"

"To help. I get it." Emma sighs, re-taking her seat on the couch. She can feel herself deflating, unable to fight the inevitable. "Everyone says that."

"Have they ever meant it?" Archie questions her, meeting her wide eyes over his glasses.

"What?" The blonde whispers.

"Have they meant it, Emma. When they said they wanted to help you?" The red headed man sets his clipboard on the floor in front of him, bringing his full attention to the blonde.

Emma thinks for a moment before shaking her head sadly. "No."

"Not a single person?"

A blush begins to form across pale cheeks causing Emma to turn away from the man.

"Do you want to talk about this person?"

This time blonde hair whips around as Emma shakes her head rapidly.

"Okay."

Emma snaps her head up, tilting it to the side in question. "Okay? That's it? You're not gonna force me to talk about it?"

"Of course not Emma. I told you I'm only trying to help you. If I force you to tell me things you aren't ready to talk about, what help would I be?" Emma stays silent, though the click of her jaw closing sharply echoes around the room. Archie waits a moment, giving the girl a chance to collect her thoughts before he continues. "I would like you to talk about something though Emma. It doesn't matter what it is but I want you to know that whatever you tell me, will not leave this room and I will try my hardest to help you with whatever you need."

Emma remains silent, mulling the man's words over in her head. Seeming to come to a conclusion, the blonde nods once. "Okay, but I don't really know how this works."

"How about I ask you a question and you can answer if you want to or you can pass on the question. The only rule is that any question you choose to answer, you must be honest about it. Deal?"

"Deal." Emma replies with a nod.

"Okay, we'll start small. Why were you in the hospital that day?"

"I passed out in my car." Emma answers dully.

Archie nods and bends to pick up his clipboard, writing down the blonde's answer once it's fully in his lap again. Emma eyes the thing warily for a moment before focusing her gaze back on the man in front of her.

"Good. Now, why did you pass out in your car?"

Emma sighs and leans back into the couch, sensing that she'll probably be here for a while. "I got angry and punched my steering wheel until I blacked out."

"Why were you angry Emma?"

"Pass." Emma immediately replies, her voice shaky.

The doctor raises his eyebrows momentarily before jotting down the blonde's response. He senses the girls' walls reforming and tries a new tactic, hoping to pull her back from her shell. "Alright, that's fair. How about this: who brought you to the hospital?"

"Pass." This response is even more rapid than the first, causing the redhead to tilt his head curiously. He sticks to his promise though, and after writing down the girls' answer he continues.

"Why did you leave in the first place?"

"I…" Emma squeezes her eyes shut, willing unshed tears to stay in place. She shakes her head, unable to go through with it. "Pass."

Archie removes his glasses with a sigh and wipes his face. He sets the glasses atop his clipboard and stares at the blonde. "Alright Emma. I can see we've hit a wall here. That will be all for today but I do want to see you here twice a week so we can talk. Is that okay?"

The blonde lets out a groan but nods. "Yeah, that's okay, I guess."

"Good. Now Emma, I've talked to Mr. Gold and we have decided that you need to take the rest of the week off. In your current state you won't be getting any work done and it isn't healthy for you to be here while you're still working through these things."

Emma gapes at the man before a smirk slides across her face. "Is that what you guys were yelling about?"

Archie lets out a soft chuckle. "We might have had a difference of opinion but the fact still remains. You have the rest of the week off Emma. I suggest you take that time to find an outlet for yourself. May it be reading, writing or just talking to a friend. Don't think about school, it will still be here for you to worry about when you get back. Now go home, get some rest and enjoy your time off." The man smiles softly at the blonde before motioning for her to leave the room.

Emma stands from the couch and begins walking towards the door before turning and smiling at the red headed man. "Thank you."

"My pleasure Emma. Now go."

The last period bell rings through the halls and Regina lifts her head from her desk to watch her students file out of the room. She had instructed the class to popcorn read again. She wasn't planning on doing it today but when she noticed the lack of a certain blonde in her class her wandering mind made it clear she was in no state to actually teach.

So now, as the last of the students trail out of her room, she lets out a loud groan and slams her head back on her desk. _What the hell is happening to me? _She replays the scene from her bedroom in her mind for the hundredth time that day, analyzing her actions and reactions. She kept trying to pinpoint the exact moment her focus had changed from caring teacher to… She didn't even know what what happened constituted as. _More than it should have been…_

"Regina?"

Regina quickly lifts her head from her desk and brown eyes meet green. "Emma…" She whispers, quickly standing from her chair. The brunette strides over to the blonde who is standing anxiously in her doorway.

"Hi." Emma meets the brunette's eyes sheepishly.

"Hey." Regina whispers back with a sad smile.

"I'm sor —"

"Emma I…"

Both women pause before blushing and facing away from each other. Regina collects herself first and turns back to the blonde, taking a step closer. Emma meets her gaze once more and Regina feels her legs go weak. _Get ahold of yourself._ The brunette scolds herself. She retreats backwards the step she had just taken before forcing herself to speak to the blonde, who now had her head tilted in thought.

"Emma, I'm so sorry. What happened… It shouldn't have. I apologize."

Emma nods sadly, gaze still locked on brown eyes. "I know." She whispers.

"It won't happen again I assure you. I think that… I think that our emotions were on overload and we were just seeking comfort. That's completely rational." Regina knows what she's saying isn't entirely true but she pushes those thoughts aside. _It isn't right._

"Yeah…" Emma murmurs, finally peeling her eyes away from the brunettes. "You're right."

Regina smiles, though it doesn't reach her eyes. "Why are you here Emma?"

"Oh, I was… I was just going to apologize. For running, I mean. I don't mean to keep doing that to you it's just… Like you said, emotions were high and all that." She looks to the ground and shuffles her feet uncomfortably. Silence encompasses both women for a few moments before Emma lifts her head back up with a genuine smile. "Oh, and… Archie gave me the rest of the week off of school to, you know, calm my emotions or whatever."

"Oh good, Emma. You really need that. How nice of him."

"Yeah… so… and you can say no but, I was wondering if I could continue staying at your place?" Emma can see that the brunette is about to cut in so she quickly continues before the other woman has a chance. "It's just that, I don't want to spend all this time at… well you know… or in my car. And I promise I won't run away again. And I'll sleep in the guest room so emotions don't get… weird…" The blonde takes a deep breath and glances hopefully at the brunette.

"Of course Emma. I wouldn't want you on your own for that long anyhow. Just… Please, keep that promise. It's very worrisome when you leave. Especially when you don't come to class. And since you have the week off… If you leave… I won't know where you are and I'll be worried sick."

"I know, Regina. I really am sorry. I won't leave this time."

"Very well then," Regina smiles at the blonde. "Let's head home then, shall we?"

_Home. _Emma smiles. _I like the sound of that. _


End file.
